Togetherness
by MZephyr
Summary: RanmaxAkane. Alternate universe story. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.
1. Together in Spirit

**Togetherness  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.

* * *

**Chapter 1. Together in Spirit**

Eyes older than time turned their attention to the earthly plane, specifically the eastern portions of Asia, where they foresaw events which were soon to transpire. Thoughts deeper than any ocean slowly considered matters. A smile appeared, although had any observers been present, they would have been hard pressed whether to describe that smile as malevolent, benevolent or merely mischievous. A gesture was made, and a course of events was set into motion.

* * *

It was late in April and Akane Tendo, a female first year student at Furinkan High School in Nerima, was once again doing battle. An ordinary popular girl might have to put up with boys fighting each other over her. In Akane's case, things took a different twist. Every morning since the school year began, a few dozen boys would attack her as she came through the school gates, each one proclaiming that he would be victorious and win the right to date her. The fools were mostly ordinary athletes, no match for her martial arts skills. As she threw one fellow into a group of three others, her mind wandered. 

She remembered how it had all started. Akane had rebuffed the advances of the exceedingly pompous Tatewaki Kuno, an admittedly handsome kendoist in the next higher grade. As a result, the deranged idiot had made a speech before the entire school that no boy would be permitted to date Akane Tendo unless he could first defeat her. By the time this message had finished passing through the ears of the perverted jerks who attended her school, they had decided that if one of them was able to defeat her, then she would have to date him. No amount of outraged denials on her part had affected them in the least.

Thus began the morning battles, in which the fools tried to win a date with her by beating her up. This morning, as every morning, she stood unscathed at the end, her would-be suitors lying scattered around her on the ground; injured, unconscious, or wisely pretending to be one or the other.

This morning, as every morning, the real battle would now begin. With the rest of the contenders defeated, Tatewaki Kuno stepped forward from behind the tree where he had watched the general melee. He sniffed a rose he was holding, as always, while he declaimed, "Truly such a boorish lot." He flicked the rose in her direction. She caught and crushed it. Kuno went on, "But now, Akane Tendo, my fierce tigress, would you fight with me?" He raised his bokken into the ready position.

"Kuno-senpai," Akane said with a sigh. "Can't you give it a rest?" However, she did take up a stance in preparation.

Kuno spoke in haughty tones. "You seek to jest, my fair one. There can be no greater pursuit than this challenge, which shall one day permit you to acknowledge your love for me." He then launched his attack.

Unlike the other boys earlier, Akane was forced to defend herself vigorously, deftly blocking the wooden sword and striking back with kicks and punches. Several landed to good effect, and Kuno's movements rapidly grew more clumsy due to the pain. The spectators nodded to themselves sagely, as Akane's customary victory became imminent.

However, events suddenly took an unexpected turn. Akane's foot found a wet patch of grass and slipped out from under her. She twisted desperately, trying to break her fall, and at the same moment Tatewaki sliced toward her with his bokken. Even as she hit the ground, Akane was attempting to reverse the motion of one of her arms, to raise it to block, already realizing that she was going to be too late. She had no time for fear to begin as the blade came in from her left, headed toward her forehead. Horror gripped Kuno as he observed this sequence of events, and the realization pierced him that he was unable to pull the blow and prevent her injury.

Akane had time only to think, ‹This can't ...›

Then everything went dark.

* * *

The teenage boy came muzzily to wakefulness. He had a feeling like something was pounding on the inside of his head, trying to get out. He looked around blearily, unable to make out very much, as there wasn't much light to see with. The sky was only beginning to lighten with the coming dawn. 

‹_Where am I?! What's going on?!_›

‹Huh?› the boy thought to himself. He stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it around, while turning his head from side to side. It hadn't sounded precisely like someone speaking. Maybe he just wasn't quite awake yet.

‹_Why am I outdoors?! Why did I stick my finger in my ear?! I didn't try to put my finger in my ear!_›

The boy felt goose bumps rising along his arms. Trying not to wake his father who was sleeping nearby, he whispered, "Who said that? Come out and let me see you."

‹_Why did I say that? Why can't I control my mouth? Why can't I get up? Kasumi! Daddy! Anybody!_›

The voice he was hearing was starting to sound panicked. The young man quietly climbed out of his sleeping bag, and started to walk around the clearing carefully, peering into the darkness. "Calm down," he whispered. "Can you tell me where you are? Maybe I can help."

‹_I'm walking around some clearing in some forest!_› the voice shouted back angrily, except that the sound didn't seem to be passing through his ears. ‹_And my mouth is the one that just asked that question! Who are you, and why are you in control of my body? Where am I? How did I get here?_›

The teenage boy swallowed heavily as it began to dawn on him that his ears really weren't hearing anything. The words were coming from inside of his own head!

‹Um, can you hear me when I think like this?› he thought, tentatively.

He winced at the return shout inside of his head. ‹_Yes! Now give me back my body!_›

‹Um, I'm pretty sure that this is my body. At least it was in my sleeping bag, and that's my pop snoring over there, and this is the clearing where we set up camp last night. Do you think you could stop shouting?›

The voice paused for a few blessed moments of silence. Finally, more quietly and with just a touch of fear, it asked, ‹_Are you sure?_›

‹Yeah, pretty sure,› he responded. He raised an arm in front of his face, and pushed back a sleeve. Squinting in the gray darkness, he was just able to make out a scar. ‹I got a scar on my arm here. It's one of the ones I got when I was ten, when pop trained me in the neko-ken. It's definitely me.›

This time there was a longer pause. When it spoke again, the voice had seemed to get a grip on itself, though he could still hear fear in the background. ‹_Who are you? Where are we?_›

‹My name is Ranma Saotome. We're in the Qinghai province of China. If you're not familiar with it, that's over in western China. My pop and I are headed for someplace that's supposed to be some kind of legendary training ground, at least that's what he says his guidebook says. We should get there sometime today.›

‹_How'd I get here?_›

Ranma gave a weak chuckle. ‹You're asking me? You're the - what? spirit? demon? - who somehow ended up in _my_ head. Shouldn't you know how you got here? What's your name anyway?›

The voice sounded huffy when it answered. ‹_I'm Akane Tendo, and I live in Nerima, in Japan._› She sounded a little puzzled as she next asked, ‹_Why isn't this bothering you more?_›

Ranma snorted. ‹I've had plenty of crazy things happen to me in my life. I'm just chalking this up as one more. You're a girl, aren't you? You sound like a girl. You said you live in Japan? Ought to be well after dawn there. What's the last thing you remember?›

‹_Yes of course I'm a girl!_› The voice sounded quite indignant. ‹_It figures I'd get stuck inside some stupid, perverted boy._›

"Hey! I'm not a pervert!" Ranma's father stirred grumpily at the noise.

‹_Hmmph! All boys are perverts._›

‹Well I'm not, so stop calling me one! It's not like I asked you to pay a visit inside my head. The least you could do is not be rude about it.›

Ranma got an impression that if he could see this girl, her arms would be crossed and her expression would indicate that she was utterly unconvinced by his words. He sighed.

‹So like I asked, what's the last thing that you remember?›

There was another pause, and then Akane continued thoughtfully. ‹_I was at school. I was having my usual morning fight with Kuno. I was winning, as usual. Oh jeez, I slipped and I remember seeing his bokken about to hit me in the head. But why would that have done this?_›

Ranma shrugged. ‹Do you remember what day it was?›

‹_Of course I do! April twenty-third._›

Ranma nodded. ‹That's today, all right. Sounds like as soon as you got hit in the head, you somehow jumped inside _my_ head. Was he using some kind of magic bokken, or something?›

Akane snorted mentally. ‹_Magic bokken? What sort of nonsense is that?_›

The boy smiled to himself. ‹Well, I've seen some strange things in my time. There ought to be some explanation besides just getting hit in the head. Still, if you don't know, then you don't know. Might make it a bit difficult to figure out how to get you _out_ of my head, though.›

Her thoughts became nervous. ‹_What ... what do you think will happen to my body in the meantime? How long will it be before I can even tell my family what happened?_›

Ranma tried to keep his next thought to himself, but was completely unsuccessful. ‹_Oh my god! You think I'm dead, don't you? You think that blow to my head killed me! And somehow my spirit ended up here!_›

Ranma sighed, then tried to comfort her. ‹Listen, stupid, I don't know anything. Okay, that's a possibility, but it's only one. I just don't know. Tell you what I'll do though ...›

He paused, but Akane remained silent. ‹I got no intention of telling pop that I'm hearing voices in my head. I'm sure he's going to insist on going to this training ground, so we'll do that. But after we leave, I'll try to talk him into heading back to Japan. We've been in China long enough, anyway, as far as I'm concerned. When we get back to Japan we can try to find out what happened to your body.›

‹_Okay,_› Akane whispered. ‹_Ranma? I'm scared._›

Ranma wasn't the most considerate person around when it came to other people's feelings, but neither was he heartless. ‹I know. I wish there was more I could do for you. I'm afraid it'll be at least a couple of weeks before we can get back to Japan, at the earliest. Assuming I can convince pop to head straight there.›

He headed off to the makeshift latrine he had dug the previous night, his thoughts still busy trying to figure out this unexpected experience. ‹Meanwhile, I gotta know, just how much are you picking up from me? I got the impression that you can see what I can see.›

‹_Everything,_› Akane told him. ‹_Sight. Hearing. Smell. Taste probably, once you eat. I'm feeling everything that you are. You know, that's pretty disgusting._›

Ranma's eyes whipped up from looking at what he was doing. He had the distinct impression of a disgruntled harrumph.

‹_Doesn't help, you know. I can still feel what your hands feel._›

"Oh man!" he whispered aloud. "Why me?"

As he headed back to camp, Ranma was suddenly struck in the back and sent flying by a kick from his father. He landed on his toes and spun around in time to duck under the followup attack and nail his father in the ribs. Their regular morning sparring session was underway, and the local wildlife quickly departed the area.

As the battle continued, with many acrobatic leaps, Akane remarked, ‹_You know, you're pretty good. If I had to get stuck inside somebody else's head, at least it's another martial artist._›

Ranma's head rocked with a blow. ‹Would you mind not distracting me, just at the moment?› he asked sarcastically.

Her response was apologetic. ‹_I'll do my best. That hurt._›

Eventually the exercise came to an end, and the two men sat down to a meager breakfast. Akane made a number of snide comments on their table manners, which Ranma merely ignored. After breakfast, the boy went to take a bath in a nearby stream. The first thing he did, even before undressing, was to bend down over a relatively calm patch of water.

‹_So that's what you look like, huh? Could be worse I suppose._›

‹Hey! What's that supposed to mean?› He frowned at the mental giggle inside of his head. ‹You're probably just jealous because your body is really uncute.› Ranma smirked as he was rewarded with a mental growl.

As he undressed, Ranma asked, ‹I suppose there's no use in asking you not to peek?›

She responded grimly, ‹_I wish I didn't have to. I'm going to see whatever you look at, so you'd better keep that in mind._› Ranma just sighed, and tried to be very careful of where he looked while he bathed.

The two men broke camp, shouldered their packs, and set off. Later that morning, Ranma and his father were hiking further up into the mountains. Giving only a tiny bit of his attention to his surroundings, the boy was carrying on an internal conversation.

‹So why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?› he suggested.

‹_Well, I already told you my name is Akane Tendo. I'm a martial artist too. I practice Anything Goes martial arts ..._›

"What!" Ranma shouted out loud.

His father turned back. "Something the matter, boy?"

Ranma shook his head. "Uh, no, sorry." Inside he went on, ‹_I_ practice Anything Goes martial arts. I didn't know there was anyone else who did.›

Akane's voice sounded shocked. ‹_I didn't know there was anyone else either. I wonder if that has anything to do with why I ended up in_ your _head?_›

Ranma called out. "Hey, pop! Something I just thought of. Is there anyone else besides us who practices Anything Goes?"

His father snorted and gave his son a quelling look, then turned his attention back to the trail. Nonetheless, he answered the question. "Yes, there is another master. Soun Tendo. We trained together, years ago, when we were young men. We're old friends."

Akane exclaimed, ‹_That's my father's name! Your dad and mine trained together!_›

Ranma called out another question. "If he's such an old friend, how come I ain't ever met him?"

The response was practically snarled. "I plan on taking you to meet him one of these days, when the time is right. Now hush, boy. I need my breath for climbing this mountainside."

‹Small world, huh?› said Ranma. ‹So your pop taught you Anything Goes?›

‹_Yeah,_› Akane went on. ‹_We live in Nerima, Japan. That's part of Tokyo, in case you didn't know._› Ranma snorted angrily at the patronizing tone. ‹_We have a dojo beside our house, and I practice there. I'm afraid daddy hasn't taught any students recently, though. I have two sisters. Kasumi, she's nineteen, and Nabiki, who just turned seventeen at the beginning of the month. Oh, and I'll be turning sixteen next week. Or, at least, I was supposed to,_› she finished sadly.

‹Hey, keep your hopes up,› Ranma told her. ‹We don't have any proof that you're dead. Maybe you're just lying unconscious somewhere and this is just a dream to you. Of course, I guess that's bad enough, but it's still better than being dead.›

‹_I suppose,_› she said dejectedly. ‹_Anyway, my mom died a long time ago, so it's just daddy, me and my sisters. I just started at Furinkan High School, which is a pretty nice school, except for the boys there. All boys are perverts._›

‹We are not! _I'm_ not! How can you say that?›

Her mental voice was bitter. ‹_Every morning before school a big crowd of boys attack me. They think that if one of them beats me, then I have to date him. They won't listen when I tell them I never said that and I'll never do that. So every morning I have to beat them up. Then I get to fight Tatewaki Kuno, who's the jerk who started it all, and I always win against him, too. Or at least, I always did until this morning._›

‹Well, try not to let it get you down,› Ranma told her. ‹Anyone can make a mistake. Besides, you're just a girl.›

‹_What the hell is that supposed to mean!_› Ranma wiggled a finger inside his ear, wondering if a mental shout could damage an eardrum. ‹_I'm a martial artist too! Do you think just anybody could handle thirty or so boys armed with baseball bats and other stuff? For that matter, and much though I hate to admit it, Kuno is pretty good himself, he's got a lot of kendo awards. And I beat him every day!_›

Ranma shrugged. ‹Well, sometimes a guy lets up a bit when he's fighting a girl.›

‹_Why ... you ... ooooh ..._› Her voice trailed off into incoherent imprecations.

Ranma grinned. ‹Guess that shut you up for a bit.›

The grin faded as Akane began to criticize, at considerable length, his appearance, ancestry, martial arts skills, education, manners and anything else which occurred to her. She continued in this vein for approximately the next half hour, without repeating once, before finally winding down.

When he was finally able to squeeze in a thought of his own, it was to think, ‹Note to self. Do not tease my mental guest about being a girl.›

Akane harrumphed. ‹_You deserved it, baka._› After a short pause she went on, ‹_So when are you going to tell me about yourself?_›

Ranma smirked. ‹Now, I suppose, since you've finally run down. Okay, so my name is Ranma Saotome, and I practice Anything Goes, like you already know. That's my pop up there, Genma Saotome. He's an idiot, but a pretty good martial artist. We've been on a training trip since I was six, and I've probably studied under pretty much every master in Japan. Except, apparently, for your dad. Oh, and I turned sixteen a couple of days ago.›

‹_Any family beside your father?_› Akane asked.

Ranma shrugged. ‹None that I know of. If I have a mother, well, pop's never mentioned her. I suppose she might be dead, like your mom. Probably is, otherwise you'd think we would have visited her from time to time.›

‹_You don't sound too sad about it._› Akane said in an accusing tone.

‹What do you want me to say? I musta had a mother, but I don't remember her. How am I supposed to feel sad about someone I don't even remember?›

At that point, they came over a ridge and looked down into the valley in front of them. There were at least a hundred pools of water scattered around, with bamboo poles sticking up all over the place. Off to one side was a hut, from which a portly Chinese man in a uniform walked out. He noticed their presence and headed over to meet them.

"Hello honored customers," this man called out. "Welcome to Jusenkyo, legendary training ground of accursed springs. I am guide."

Genma looked out over the pools. "Are you prepared, Ranma?"

The boy surveyed the valley as well. "This place isn't so impressive."

‹_What makes this a training ground, anyway?_› Akane asked.

‹See all the bamboo poles?› Ranma pointed out. ‹You're supposed to stand on top of those while you fight. If you fall off, you lose. I suppose the pools of water help to drive home the point. If you fall off, you're going to get soaked.›

In the meantime, the guide was continuing to speak. "You very strange one, no sir? This place very dangerous. Nobody use now. Is more than one hundred spring here, and every one have own tragic legend!"

‹_Doesn't look so dangerous to me!_› Akane snorted with contempt.

Genma called out, "Ranma, follow me!" He leaped atop one of the poles. Ranma jumped after him, landing on another pole. They each adopted fighting stances.

"Ah! Sir! What you doing?" called out the guide.

"I won't go easy on you," Genma called out to his son.

Ranma smiled. "That's how I want it." Inside of him, Akane prepared herself to experience another acrobatic contest of skill, wishing that she could participate herself instead of just feeling everything secondhand.

As Ranma and his father leaped off their poles straight at one another, the guide shouted again. "Please, sir! Very bad if you fall in spring!"

Genma drove a kick at Ranma, but the boy spun around his center of gravity, and pushed off his father's kicking leg with his fingertips. This placed him above his father, and as he completed his spin Ranma kicked down, pounding his heel into Genma's back. There was a huge splash as his father landed in one of the pools. As Ranma gently alit on a pole he snickered, "Gotcha."

After a few moments, the boy began to worry. A few bubbles were breaking the surface of the water, but there was no sign of his father yet. Akane, speaking from one of her own fears, asked, ‹_You don't think he's drowning, do you?_›

Ranma called down, "Pop? What's up? We done already?"

At that moment, an enormous panda bear erupted from the water at Ranma's feet, looking as angry as a panda could manage. The top of a gi was stretched tightly around its arms and back, and glasses were dangling from one ear. Ranma reared back in shock and began to stammer as the panda landed on a nearby pole, which bent slightly under its weight. Inside of Ranma's head, Akane was also stammering.

The guide called out in answer to the unasked question. "That is 'spring of drowned panda!' There is tragic legend, very tragic, of panda who drown there two thousand year ago! Now whoever fall in that spring ... take body of panda!"

Ranma's eyes went very wide. "Oh, no."

Akane shouted internally, ‹_Ranma! Let's get out of here!_›

At that same instant the panda attacked. Ranma leaped over a thrusting paw. "Wait a second!" the boy shouted. He dodged again. "You never said anything about ..."

At that moment a paw caught him across the back of his head, and Ranma and Akane both watched in horror as he plummeted toward one of the pools. The water closed over his head.

Above the pool, the guide was saying for the panda's benefit, "Not 'spring of drowned girl!' There is tragic legend, very tragic, of young girl who drown in spring one thousand, five hundred year ago! Now whoever fall in that spring take body of young girl!"

Underneath the water, Akane was starting to panic. She was unable to swim, and the possibility of drowning was one of her worst nightmares. Ranma tried to ignore her, while also trying to reorient himself to swim for the surface. The water was freezing, and the cold poured in through his skin, filled the marrow of his bones, and ran along his nerves like frozen fire.

The magic of the waters of Jusenkyo entered his body and his mind. There was a pattern in the magic, a pattern which sought for an appropriate match to complete the transformation. Under ordinary circumstances, this pattern would have been taken from Ranma's own genetic code, and the transformation would have caused him to take on the appearance he would have had if he had been born a girl instead. However, the circumstances were not ordinary, and the magic found its match in a different pattern.

Ranma felt strange, awkward, as if he no longer quite remembered how to move correctly. He broke the surface of the pool, and shook water out of his hair and eyes. While doing so, he felt a strange weight bobbing on his chest. Looking down at the partially open top of his gi, he saw something unexpected. Yanking the top open, he found himself looking at a pair of breasts. In rapidly growing horror, he shoved a hand down inside his pants.

Ranma screamed. The scream was tenor, instead of his normal baritone.

‹_Oh my god!_› Akane was exclaiming in shock. ‹_You've been changed into a girl!_›

Ranma spun around, and his eyes burned into those of the panda. Akane was no stranger to anger, but she felt a fury erupt inside of Ranma's head which made anything she had ever felt pale in comparison. The panda clearly saw it, for he spun around and started running. It was quite surprising how quickly such an ungainly creature could run.

Ranma leaped out of the pool and gave chase. The panda glanced over its shoulder and started running even faster.

‹_Ranma? You're ... you're not going to kill him, are you? I mean, he is your father._›

"He turned me into a girl!" Ranma shouted, tears in the tenor voice. "I'm a girl! Damn right I'm going to kill him! Face me and die, old man!" The panda managed to find a little more speed in its stout legs.

The chase continued for some time around the valley. The only thing in Ranma's vision was the black and white fur running ahead of him. He was very startled when Akane suddenly shouted, ‹_Ranma, watch out!_›

Ranma realized that he was about to kick a boy out of his way. With a muttered oath, he realized that he couldn't avoid hitting him, and instead wrapped his arms around the boy in order to minimize the damage. They landed at the very edge of a cliff, which promptly crumbled under their feet, and they were falling. Akane and Ranma both gave another mental shriek as they saw the pool of water below them.

Luckily, Ranma's skill in martial arts was phenomenal, and the long chase had already given him a feel for the differences in this female body. His mind did a lightning fast calculation, and he shoved the boy out of his arms with incredible precision. They flew away from one another and landed on opposite banks of the pool.

Ranma looked down into the waters of the pool, giving silent thanks that they had missed it. His reflection showed the face of a young woman of about his own age, with black hair still tied back in a ponytail. A very cute face, he reflected bitterly, if only he wasn't trapped inside of it. He then clapped his hands over his ears as Akane screamed inside of his head.

‹What's wrong?› he demanded.

‹_My body! That's my body! You've got my body now!_› Akane was shouting.

‹Well it isn't my fault!› Ranma yelled back inside his head. ‹I've got no more idea than you what's going on, okay?› He looked up as he heard the sound of a throat being cleared.

"Um, thank you, miss," the boy stammered. "Looks like you spared me a dunking."

"It's worse than you think," Ranma replied. "These pools are cursed. If you fall into one, it changes you into something else. I've got no idea what that pool would have changed us into, but believe me you should be happy you don't have to find out."

The boy looked a bit skeptical, but Ranma had no time for that. Sounding apologetic, Ranma told him, "Sorry, but I gotta run. I've got to catch and skin a panda bear." He turned to run off.

"Could you at least tell me your name?" called out the boy back by the pool.

"Ranma Saotome!" he shouted back, just as he disappeared from sight. Neither Ranma nor Akane heard the splash as the boy fell over backwards from shock, right into the pool.

* * *

Several minutes later Ranma was forced to concede that he had lost the panda's trail. He slowly slid to his knees on the rocky ground, and leaned against a handy tree. Without the single-minded concentration on killing his father to occupy his mind, his brain was forced to face the knowledge that he was probably going to spend the rest of his life as a girl because of the old man. Bitter tears started sliding down his face from eyes that were tightly shut. 

Inside his head he could hear Akane sobbing as well. He had problems enough with his own misery, but could not help but overhear her quiet monologue. ‹_He has my body. I must really be dead, and he has my body now. I'm never going to live again. I'm never going to take over the dojo and teach martial arts. I'm never going to see Kasumi or any of the rest of my family again. I'm stuck here, inside my own body, and it's not even mine anymore. It's not fair! I don't even get to go to heaven and see momma. Why? Why did this happen to me? Some boy is living in my body now. ..._›

She just kept on and on, convinced that she really was dead, that her body had somehow been given to Ranma and she would never be getting it back. Ranma was still miserable and heart-broken, but it did occur to him that unlike Akane, he was alive. It was an agony to realize that his own body was lost, and he was stuck in this girl's body. Nonetheless, the grief in Akane's voice was clearly deeper than his own. He tried to find words of comfort to speak to her, but could think of nothing adequate, and in any event she was ignoring him, not hearing his pathetic efforts at sympathy.

Wearily Ranma stood up, noticing that the sun had slipped behind the mountains and darkness was falling fast. He began to carefully work his way back down into the valley, heading for the guide's hut, near which he should find his pack. Beyond that he wasn't sure what he was going to do, except that he would probably wait until morning to make up his mind. Right now all that he wanted to do was to sleep, and to pray that when he woke up this would all prove to have been nothing more than a nightmare.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Is Akane really dead? Is she lying somewhere in a coma? Is she alive and well and it's just some copy of her personality in Ranma's head? Or maybe she's in Ranma's head while some demon is possessing her body? Stay tuned for answers to these and other questions.

Of course, some might say that she can't be dead, since I've already labeled this as a Ranma/Akane pairing. Allow me to suggest possibilities, if it should turn out that she is dead. Maybe the story will turn out to be rather narcissistic, with Ranma in love with the voice inside of his head for the rest of his life. Or maybe as in several other fanfics, Ranma and his curse will be split apart somehow, and Akane will get a copy of her body back. Or perhaps some magical ritual will transfer Akane's spirit into the body of some teenage girl who has just died (in a spiritual sense) but whose body is still alive. Death is not necessarily a final ending in a fanfic, if the author doesn't want it to be.

Then again who says she's dead? Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Time will tell. Stay tuned for Chapter 2, "Together in Amazonia."

This story will be six chapters in length, of which this chapter is the shortest by a significant margin. It will carry on to a point a short time beyond when the manga would have begun. I am planning a sequel, which will continue through the alternate history paralleling events in the manga.

The entity mentioned in the first paragraph of the story will not be reappearing later on. It was just a convenient tool to set things on the course that I wanted.

I'm sorry about the delay in starting to post this story. My pre-reader has several projects occupying her attention these days, and now on top of that her computer has gone on the fritz. I had wanted to hold off on posting the story until it was completely pre-read, so that I could modify earlier chapters if necessary to fit changes in later chapters. As you can see, I'm going to back off on that a bit and start posting. Nonetheless, there will probably be longer delays between chapters than has been the norm for me in previous stories.


	2. Together in Amazonia

**Togetherness  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.

* * *

**Chapter 2. Together in Amazonia**

While Ranma was dealing, or failing to deal, with Akane's grief, Genma was simply feeling relieved that he had finally lost Ranma. He was sure that the ungrateful boy, or girl, would soon come to his, er, her, senses, and realize that his father had never intended such an outcome. Genma looked at his large furry paws in despair over his lost humanity, and circled back down into the valley to where their packs had been left.

"Ah, Mister Customer, you come back! Very good." It was the guide, standing in the door of his hut. "I heat water now. Once hot, we will pour over you. This will make you human again."

The panda gave a "growf" of excitement, but the guide shook his head. "Is not a permanent cure. Whenever you splashed with cold water, you become panda again. Hot water always change you back to man. Same for boy who became girl. Where is he?"

Genma shrugged his massive shoulders to indicate his complete lack of knowledge as to this last point. The guide sighed. "While we wait for water to heat, maybe you find something to eat. Yes?"

Genma thought about this, then gave a nod and wandered off. He realized that certain instincts came with this body, as he looked longingly at a stand of bamboo growing nearby. On the whole, however, it would be nice to have something that he could enjoy eating as a human.

It was at this point that he heard a squeal and a splashing sound. Hurrying to investigate, he saw a small black pig splashing in a pool of water, about to drown. Reaching down he picked it up, then happily turned around and hurried back toward the hut. He was already starting to drool at the thought of pork for supper.

When he reentered the hut, the guide exclaimed, "Ah, you find very nice pig! Let's right now cook it! We use hot water to cook, heat more water for you to become man."

Together, the man and the panda got another fire going, and placed a large pan over it into which was poured the already heated water. A fresh kettle of water was placed on the original, smaller fire. The guide began sharpening a knife, while saying, "Many springs in valley. Even have a 'spring of drowned black pig.' Very sad story of black pig who drown there one thousand two hundred year ago. Maybe here is a poor person who falls in spring and turns into black pig." The pig's head started moving vigorously up and down at this point.

The guide laughed at what he had said, and the panda joined him. "Ha! Funny joke, yes?" He dropped the squealing pig into the boiling water.

An instant later a naked boy leaped out of the pan, red and screaming. If Ranma had been there, both he and Akane could have recognized this young man as the one they thought they had saved from falling into the pool. The guide and the panda looked on in disappointment as the boy ran out of the door. "Oh, it _is_ a poor person! Now we cannot eat."

Since their supper had run off, the guide put out the fire and put away the utensils which he had been planning to use on the pig. He sighed at the thought of the stale bread, which was about all that he had available to eat at the moment. Deciding to delay such an unappetizing meal a little longer, he turned his attention to transforming the panda back into a human. The water in the pan was now much too hot, but the kettle was just reaching a nice temperature.

The guide lifted the kettle off of its fire, and carried it back over to the panda bear. "Now you see sir. This change you back to man again." He poured the water over the bear, and a moment later a bald and naked man was sitting in its place. Genma started patting his hands all over his body, beaming happily to find himself restored, but then took note of his state of undress. With a grimace, the man grabbed his pack and pulled out another gi to put on.

A short time later Ranma walked through the door of the hut, still in the body of a teenage girl with long black hair. His pack was no longer lying on the ground outside, so he figured it had been brought in here. He stopped in complete shock at the sight of his father sitting in a chair beside a table, no longer a panda.

"Wha-wha ...? Pop, you're cured?! How?"

"Hot water change you back to true self," the guide explained once again. "But is not cure. Whenever you splashed with cold water, you change back into girl again. Hot water will make you boy again." He held out the kettle to the girl.

Ranma took the kettle in wonder, and quickly lifted and poured the hot water over his head. Looking down, he saw that his chest was flat once again. A bit self-consciously he turned his back on the other two men, then shoved a hand down inside of his pants in order to confirm that certain other important bits had been restored. He breathed a sigh of intense relief.

Then he turned back around and gave his father a menacing scowl. "Pop! How could you bring us to such a dangerous place?! You ... you ..."

Genma sniffed with dismissive scorn. "Oh be silent, boy! After all, a martial artist's life is fraught with peril."

The guide winced in sympathetic pain as he watched the boy's response to this platitude. When it was over, he rearranged the unconscious man into a more comfortable position before returning to his seat. Breathing hard in outrage, Ranma walked to the opposite side of the room and sat on the floor, trying to regain control of his emotions. Akane had finally stopped crying inside of his head, although she didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything.

After a while Ranma looked up and cleared his throat to get the guide's attention. "So am I going to be stuck with this curse for the rest of my life? Do you know of any cure?"

The Chinese man sighed. "I am sorry sir, but is no certain cure. Records say that one of the springs is the Nanniichuan, the 'spring of drowned man.' It is supposed to be at far end of valley, but is not known for certain which spring that is. Records are only complete for springs at this end of valley."

Ranma looked more hopeful. "But if we could find it, it would cure me?"

The guide shook his head. "It _might_ cure you. But it might mix with current curse instead, change you into part-man, part-woman. Magic of Jusenkyo have mind of its own. _Very_ dangerous if treated carelessly. There is record of woman who fall in spring of drowned man, who try to cure herself by jumping into spring of drowned woman. Magic only switch her curse, so that cold water made her woman and hot water made her man."

Ranma had gone rather pale at the man's description of how he could end up with a mixture of male and female parts when splashed with water. It dawned on him that it was possible to end up even worse off than he now was. Correction, with his luck, he was bound to end up even worse off. Thinking of another worry, he asked, "Is there any chance that I could get stuck as a female?"

To Ranma's terror, the guide nodded his head. "Legends say there are several ways for curse to be locked, but few know of them, and for every way to lock curse, there is way to unlock it. For curse to turn into girl, simplest way to be stuck that way for a time is to be pregnant. Then cannot change back until baby is born."

The boy grimaced. "That one ain't a concern. No way I'm going to do _that_ with a guy." His eyes widened as another horrible thought occurred to him. "I ain't gonna start feeling attracted to guys when I'm a girl, am I?"

Apparently Akane was starting to recover, as he heard a weak snicker from her at that question. The guide merely shook his head. "Not unless you already attracted to boys. Curse does not change mind, only body." He paused and looked thoughtful, then added. "Mostly. Mind does get instincts for animal curses when in cursed form. Suppose that happen with girl curse too, but I not know what instincts girls have that men not have."

Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. Akane suggested, ‹_How about asking him how the curse chose what you look like. I'd like to know why you look like me._›

Ranma thought about how to ask this, then said, "So I fell in the 'spring of drowned girl.' But there are lots of possible ways for a girl to look. How did it decide on the particular body it gave me?"

The man shrugged. "Magic of Jusenkyo not always obey clear rules. Records say that most man who fall in 'spring of drowned girl' look the way he would look if he was born girl. Same for woman who fall in 'spring of drowned man.' But records also say this not always so."

Akane gave a mental sigh. ‹_I suppose the magic gave you my body because my spirit or mind or whatever is currently inside of you. Oh well. If you do go back to Nerima someday, people are going to be awfully surprised to see me walking around after they thought me safely cremated._›

‹Are you really so sure that you're dead?› Ranma asked her.

Her voice was gentle but sad as she answered. ‹_Yes. I have to be. If by some miracle I'm not ... well, we'll deal with that if it happens. But if I allow myself to hope that I'm not dead, think of how devastating it would be to learn that I am. I couldn't face that. So I can't let myself hope._›

Genma stirred, and was soon sitting up and scowling at his son. The three men shared their rations to make a scanty meal, just rice and stale bread. After the meal, the guide got a box down from a shelf and rummaged about in it for a while, then stood up with an exclamation of triumph.

He turned around and presented a sign and pen to Ranma's father. "I thought I remember these. These are magic, left here long ago. Not useful to most who have animal curse, but panda can hold pen. You hold these while you change into panda. Then they linked to your curse. After that, whenever you want sign and pen in hands, um, paws, they be there. Cannot talk as panda, but this let you write messages."

Genma took them, looking skeptical, but who was he to ridicule such a tale after everything else which had happened that day? He poured some water on himself from a canteen and became a panda. The bear blinked as it realized that it was no longer holding the sign or the pen. Feeling a little foolish, it held out its paws and thought about holding these artifacts. The sign and pen were suddenly in his paws again, and he scribbled, "Hey! It works!" The guide snorted and poured hot water over him, changing him into a man once more, and after a moment Genma realized that the writing implements had disappeared again.

He bowed slightly forward where he was sitting. "Thank you. I suppose those tools will be helpful." Genma then went on to ask several more questions, repeating some of what Ranma had already asked about, such as the possibility of a cure or being locked in the cursed form.

Eventually the three men, all of them still hungry, settled down for the night to sleep. As he lay in his sleeping bag, Ranma and Akane talked for a little while before falling asleep.

‹_I'm sorry you ended up with a curse like that, Ranma_›

He winced. ‹I'd really rather not talk about it, or even think about it. I'm feeling pretty awful with this curse and all, and I'm pretty sure that I'm still in a state of shock. I'm probably gonna feel even worse tomorrow.›

‹_Is it really so bad, being a girl?_› Akane asked. ‹_Not to mention that it's my body._›

Ranma struggled to find words to explain concepts he had never really considered before. ‹Look, I'm sorry I got your body. It wasn't my idea you know. And, well, I don't suppose it's so bad being a girl if you are one. But I'm not! I'm a guy! I'm a guy ...›

There was a catch in his throat as he nearly broke down. After a long pause, Ranma went on. ‹I've been a guy all my life, and now suddenly I'm not anymore. At least not full time. It's ... my whole world's turned upside-down. I don't know how to act. I don't know how to behave. I don't know what to expect from the people around me.›

‹_Well ..._›

Ranma ignored her, interrupting. ‹Besides, I'm a martial artist. Now suddenly I've got this new body that's unfamiliar to me. I'm probably going to be a lot weaker. Uh, no offense. I'm gonna have a different reach, a different sense of balance. I'm gonna have to completely retrain myself to fight in that body.›

‹_I kept my body in pretty good shape, you know. I am ... was ... a martial artist._›

Ranma shook his head. ‹Don't you get it, dummy? However much training it might have had, _I'm_ not familiar with it.›

Akane harrumphed, but didn't respond to the insult.

Another thought occurred to him. ‹Then there's guys. When I'm in that body - and I admit it's a cute body, only the best for me naturally - guys are going to be looking at me and thinking that _I_ look cute. They might, you know, want to _do_ stuff with me.›

Akane responded angrily. ‹_Hey, I had to put up with that too. You think I wanted the jerks at school leering at me!_›

‹But you're a girl, right?› Ranma pointed out. ‹Don't you want guys to notice you?›

‹_There's a difference between noticing and leering,_› Akane told him hotly. ‹_The first ... well, I'm not sure how to say it. But the other makes you feel like you're undressed, and the pervert is thinking about doing things to you, and he doesn't care if you don't want him to._›

‹Oh.› Ranma thought about this. ‹But I think there's still a difference,› he suggested tentatively. ‹Look, you don't hate all men, do you?› He caught the impression of a single word, quickly cut off. It might have been "doctor," or maybe a name. At any rate, it wasn't a denial. ‹So you're interested in guys, not girls, right? Even if you don't want perverts staring at you, you've grown up knowing that guys are going to ... pay attention to you, good or bad.› Ranma squirmed. ‹Well I didn't grow up knowing that, I'm not accustomed to the thought, and I _hate_ the idea!›

‹_I suppose ... I understand a little,_› Akane finally said. ‹_And if I have to be trapped inside here, then in a way I'm almost happy that it's my body you're stuck with. Even if I'm not controlling it, when you're in that form, I'm seeing, hearing, feeling everything from within the body I'm used to. It's almost like being alive again._› She hesitated, surprised at her next thought, but ruefully acknowledging she was going to have to learn to cooperate with her host. Akane offered, ‹_If you want, I'll try to help you get used to it, learn how to behave when you're female. It is the body I lived in all my life, you know, so I'm pretty familiar with it and what other people expect of me._›

‹Um, thanks, I think,› Ranma told her, knowing he should be grateful but feeling intensely uneasy over the idea. ‹I probably could use your help, I guess. But we'd better be getting some sleep. Pop will probably wake us at dawn, and then I'm going to have to try to talk him into heading back to Japan immediately. Even if you don't want to get your hopes up, I'd like to know for certain what happened to you.›

‹_Okay. Good-night, Ranma_›

‹G'night, Akane.›

* * *

The surface of the water approached with stomach turning speed as Ranma plunged toward it. He and Akane were both screaming. They hit with an explosive impact, the ice cold waters closing over his head. He struggled, fighting toward the surface, toward air, toward the shore. Finally, he dragged himself onto dry ground. But now they noticed that his clothes had disappeared, and he looked down at his nude and indisputably female body. Ranma felt tears slide down his cheeks.

At that point the Jusenkyo guide walked up carrying a steaming kettle. "Hear you go, honored customer. Hot water change you back to boy."

Ranma eagerly grabbed the kettle and poured it over his head. The hot water cascaded down his face and over his body. Looking down, he saw to his mounting horror that he was still female.

"Oh, so sorry," the guide said. "It look like you will be girl forever."

Ranma sat bolt upright in his sleeping bag, bellowing with fear and denial. A wad of clothing flew out of the darkness to strike him in the face, shutting him up. Backtracking its flight, he saw that it had been thrown from the direction of his father's sleeping bag. He glared at the old man, which did absolutely no good in the darkness.

As Ranma slowly started to get his breathing back under control, Akane asked, ‹_Do you often have nightmares, Ranma?_› He could sense nervous tension in her voice, and knew that she had also experienced his nightmare. He guessed that it had disturbed her as well, at least a little.

He wanted to lie and tell her that he never had nightmares until that one, but he had no idea how long she was going to be in his head. If she was there for very long, she would eventually learn that he did occasionally have them.

‹Not too often,› he admitted reluctantly.

Feeling a need to justify this perceived weakness, Ranma remarked, ‹I don't suppose either of us should be surprised that I'd have a nightmare about what happened today.› He shuddered in the darkness. ‹This curse is enough to give anyone a nightmare. And despite what the Chinese guy said, I can't help worrying that I might get stuck as a girl.›

With a deep sigh he lay back down, though it took him a little while to get comfortable. Some time passed before his soft snores could once more be heard in the hut.

* * *

Ranma was running down a road, a road he was sure he'd never seen before but which felt eerily familiar. There was a strange feeling of cloth fluttering about his legs, interfering with his pace. Looking down, he realized he was wearing a dress, and that the body beneath it was female. With a sense of despair, he remembered the curse. Looking up again, he found that he was running through a gate and into a school yard.

‹_That's Furinkan! My high school._› Akane told him. Then, ‹_Watch out for the boys!_›

As though her words had summoned them, a crowd of boys charged toward him, many wielding weapons; baseball bats, tennis rackets, hockey sticks and the like. He defended himself, blocking the blows, attacking where he could, but for some reason he felt like he was moving so slowly. Akane was calling out advice, which turned out to be pretty good, and he realized that she had done this before. Still, he grew worried as his movements became slower and slower.

A baseball bat hit him in the gut in a sudden explosion of pain, causing him to fold over. Something hit the back of his head, dazing him. He fell to the ground, and boys piled on top of him. Hands groped him, touching places he didn't want touched. He felt them ripping at his clothes, tearing them off. He was screaming, Akane was screaming. He and Akane ...

... and once again he was sitting up in the darkness, sweat pouring down his face and drenching his t-shirt. He was shivering uncontrollably, and heard Akane whimpering inside of his head. After a moment he identified the inside of the Jusenkyo guide's hut. It took several minutes for his breathing and heart rate to slow down to normal. He saw that the sky outside the window was starting to lighten.

‹I'm, ah, pretty sure that wasn't one of my nightmares. Yours, I suppose?› Ranma asked Akane.

‹_Yes,_› she whispered to him. ‹_I've had that one before. Ever since the school year began, and the boys started attacking me. So far I always wake up before anything really bad happens._› She paused, and Ranma got the sensation of someone licking dry lips, if only she had lips to lick.

‹_It doesn't really worry me when I'm awake. Nothing like that ever came close to happening, and although they are all perverts, I don't really think they'd have done something like that even if they had managed to knock me down. But I guess it's a little harder to believe that when I'm asleep._›

Ranma nodded, understanding a little better why she was so quick to think the worst of any boy, and call them all perverts. He was a martial artist, supposed to defend those who needed his help. He felt a burning desire to visit that high school and beat every one of those boys to a bloody pulp.

Inside of his head, Akane gave a weak giggle. ‹_I've already tried that, you know. Quite a few of those boys had to be carried away afterward due to their injuries. It didn't seem to do much to stop them though._›

Ranma sighed. ‹So I guess from now on we both get to share twice as many nightmares, huh? Figures. My life goes completely to hell yesterday, but the universe decides to remind me that things can always get worse.› He sighed again. ‹It's almost dawn. What do you say we go ahead and get up, then go see if we can find anything out there that we could eat?› He suited actions to words, but had little luck. Even the snails and lizards seemed to be hiding themselves from him this morning.

On returning to the hut, Ranma filled a pail with water from a pump, then took it inside and dumped it over his father. The panda jumped up, shaking water out of his fur, and growled. Whipping out his sign, he quickly wrote, "What did you do that for, boy?"

Ranma gave a bark of laughter. "Just thought for once I'd wake you up with a bucketful of water, instead of the other way around. Besides, I was afraid you might be stupid enough to try sparring if you woke me up. Ain't no way I want to spar this morning with those springs so close."

The sign flipped around, and the bear wrote, "I'm not an idiot, boy."

Ranma stared at the sign incredulously, then responded with a bitter laugh. "Hah! Could've fooled me."

His father growled again, and wrote, "Just heat me some water, boy."

The commotion proved sufficient to wake the guide as well, and he helped Ranma to start some water heating, and to prepare a tiny breakfast from what was nearly the last of their food.

While his son and the Chinese man took care of these matters, Genma was looking down at the black fur of his paws and continuing to worry over thoughts which had been occupying his mind since the previous evening. Their money was running out, so it was time to start thinking about returning to Japan. However, that would run the risk of his wife hearing of their return, and possibly finding them.

It wasn't that Genma was afraid to see his wife again. Well, actually he was. That sword of hers scared him. However, at the moment a much greater concern was what he had done when he took Ranma away for their training trip at the age of six. He had signed a contract stating that he and Ranma would commit seppuku if he failed to make Ranma the greatest martial artist of his generation, and a man among men. Genma wasn't too worried about the first, but his wife had a real hangup about manliness. With the curse the boy had received yesterday, the man, well, bear at the moment, could practically feel the tanto already slitting open his belly.

The only thing to do would be to find some counter-argument to convince her of their son's manliness. Something that he could achieve before she could track them down. Since the boy had reminded him of his old friend Soun Tendo yesterday, it was only natural that the old agreement between the two of them should be called to mind. If Ranma were married to one of Tendo's daughters, then that should certainly convince Nodoka that the boy was manly enough, even with his curse. The only problem then was to get his son there without spooking the boy into running away first. It was obvious to him that he should avoid mentioning marriage or anything similar until the very last minute.

While Ranma was preparing the rice for their breakfast, Akane was commenting on his cooking. ‹_It's a pity you don't have anything to spice it up a little. You know what would go well in it? Some cinnamon, and garlic, and vanilla, and maybe a touch of vinegar. Cocoa would be good, too. Maybe some sour cream, but I'm not as sure about that._›

Ranma nearly gagged. ‹You're joking, right?›

‹_What's wrong with that?_› Her voice sounded puzzled.

His eyes nearly crossed. ‹Oh nothing. Only that nobody could possibly eat that unless they were feeling suicidal. And there are a lot less painful ways to kill yourself.›

Now her voice sounded angry. ‹_Are you trying to imply something about my cooking?_›

Ranma stirred the rice. ‹If that's how you cook, then for God's sake, please don't ever make dinner for me.›

She fumed. ‹_What do you know about cooking, baka? You're a boy!_›

His reply was decidedly nonchalant. ‹Sounds to me like I know a lot more about cooking than you. I've been cooking for me and pop for years.› He cocked his head and listened, but there was no reply. He finally decided that she must be giving him the silent treatment, and dropped the subject.

Ranma dumped hot water over his father's head with pleasure, after which the three men sat and ate their meager breakfast. It was finished all too soon. Ranma then turned to his father and asked, "So pop, what do you plan to do for an encore to yesterday? On second thought, don't answer that. I can't imagine what you could do that would be worse, but I'll bet you could find something."

"Don't be impertinent, y' ungrateful boy," his father snarled. "As a matter of fact, I'm thinking it's time we headed back to Japan. Remember yesterday when I told you I'd take you to meet my old friend Soun Tendo one of these days? I've been thinking it over, and now seems like a good time to do that."

Ranma stared at his father for a minute, then shrugged and said, "Okay." Inside of his head, he thought, ‹You hear that, Akane? I didn't even have to try to talk him into it. He decided all on his own to take us straight to your family. How do you like that?›

Akane replied thoughtfully, ‹_I guess I'm happy about it. Part of me would like to find out what happened. The part of me that isn't scared silly. But it seems awfully suspicious how quickly he changed from 'some day' to immediately. You know him better than I do. Do you think he might be up to something?_›

Ranma thought about it briefly, then told her, ‹If he is, I don't see what it could be. The only thing I can think of is maybe he thinks your dad might know somebody who could do something about these curses. That seems pretty unlikely though.›

Genma was continuing to speak, in a counterpoint to their silent exchange. "Before we can return to Japan, we need to pick up some more food." He turned to the guide. "Is there anyplace near here where we might be able to replenish our supplies?"

The Chinese man replied, "I planning to go to village of Joketsuzoku today to buy food for myself. Honored customers can come with me if they wish. Must be careful though, women of village are very strong, and they not treat men very well. They know me. They not know you."

‹_Maybe it would be better if you splashed yourself with some water before you get there, Ranma,_› Akane suggested.

The young man grimaced, but nodded and said, "I suppose it might be best if I poured some water on myself before we get there and I go in as a girl. Pop could transform into a panda and, I dunno, pretend to be my pet, I guess." His father glared at him, but did not voice an objection.

On the other hand, Genma did not want to neglect Ranma's training. "Will we have time for the boy and me to spar after we leave this accursed valley? I don't want him to get soft."

"Stuff it, pop," Ranma said with weariness born of having heard this sentiment far too many times.

The guide responded, "Yes, plenty of time. Village is only three hour walk. Know of nice clearing on the way, plenty of room to fight, with stream nearby to bathe after. That change you into girl and panda."

Ranma and Genma both agreed with this plan. After cleaning up from breakfast, they rolled up their sleeping bags then hefted their packs. They followed the guide along a path out of the valley, different from the one they had followed on the way in. It was almost as steep as the other, but was nonetheless less difficult than yesterday's trek had been.

After a little less than an hour of travel, they emerged in a wide clearing, with a stream running along one side. The ground was mostly rock, covered by moss, and was bumpy rather than flat. Still, it seemed suitable enough for their purposes.

Ranma spoke internally to his guest. ‹Akane, you said you were a martial artist, right? And you kept your body in shape?›

‹_Yeah. Why?_›

The boy sighed. ‹'Cause I got a feeling I'm gonna be spending more than a little time in that body of yours. And any enemy that attacks me ain't gonna wait politely for me to heat some water to change back. I gotta make sure I'm able to fight in your body as well as my own.›

‹_Oh._› She sounded a little nonplused. ‹_I guess I didn't think of that. I'm used to fighting in training, or at tournaments, or those idiots before school. I've never had anyone attacking me without any warning at all._›

Ranma snorted. ‹Well, it happens to me all the time. So you'd better get used to it. In any case ... whether I like it or not, I'd better get in some practice in that form.› Having said that, he walked over to the stream, lay down on the bank, and dunked his head into the water. His body shifted to that of the black-haired girl he had seen reflected in the pool yesterday.

His father called out, "What do you think you're doing, boy?"

Ranma responded in the tenor voice of this form. "What does it look like I'm doing, pop? You always say a martial artist must be ready to fight at all times. That means I gotta be ready to fight in this body, too. So I figure I better make sure I can."

Genma's face reddened at having his own words thrown back at him. On the other hand, loathe though he was to admit it, his son - or was it daughter now? - did have a point. Deciding to think over this more later, he took up a ready stance. "Don't think I'm going to go easier on you just because you're a girl."

Ranma sneered at him. "What makes you think I'd want you to, old man? Bring it on."

Ranma took several hard hits in the first few minutes as he tried to adjust to this new body. As he had feared, he had difficulties due to the change in strength, reach, speed and sense of balance. On the other hand, it wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected. Furthermore, as his father was well aware, Ranma had a phenomenal talent for adaptation, and it wasn't long before his movements became smooth and almost natural.

During one slow point when father and son were circling one another, Ranma commented, ‹Y'know, Akane, you were right. You did keep this body in pretty good shape. It's a hell of a lot stronger than I expected. Not as strong as mine, of course, but I bet there's not more than a handful of guys I've met who are stronger. It's flexible, it moves well. Could be faster, but I think that's more a matter of the right kind of training. Hips feel a little funny, but I think I'm getting used to that already.›

‹_Um, okay,_› Akane responded uncertainly, not sure whether she wanted to thank him or kick him after this mixed description.

‹Gonna be a while before I'm used to this extra weight in the front though. Glad you weren't too big there.›

‹_Gee, thanks Ranma,_› she replied sarcastically. ‹_That just makes me feel so good._›

‹Hey, I ain't used to having anything there, okay? And they ain't that small. As far as m' fighting goes, I wouldn't mind if they were smaller.› At that moment his father attacked again, and Ranma was forced to return his concentration to their sparring.

When they finally finished their exercise, both Ranma and Genma started removing their clothes to bathe in the stream. As Ranma pulled off his shirt, his father and the Jusenkyo guide both reddened and turned away quickly.

‹_Hey, baka!_› Akane yelled. ‹_Quit showing off my chest like that!_›

Ranma winced, feeling a headache coming on from the sheer volume of the shout which was still echoing inside of his skull. ‹Okay, okay! Sorry, I wasn't thinking. It's never mattered before if I stripped in front of other men.›

Ranma picked up his shirt and pack and covered his female chest with the shirt, then walked up the stream and around a bend to where he would be hidden by a thicket of brambles. As he continued pulling off his clothes, Akane spoke up again. ‹_You'd better not use this as an excuse to peek at my body, baka._›

Ranma froze, pants halfway down his legs. ‹How the heck am I supposed to bathe myself without looking at myself? Besides, from now on, every time I bathe I'm going to look like you. Cold water, remember? Don't you think we'd better get used to it?›

He felt Akane fuming inside of his head, unwilling to concede his point. Finally, she told him, ‹_Well, at least you could try to be modest about it. Don't look any more than you have to. I'm going to need time to adjust to the idea that you don't really have much choice. That my body belongs to you from now on. Do you have any idea how upsetting that is?_›

Ranma sighed, and continued pulling off his pants and boxers, then went rummaging in his pack for his bathing supplies. ‹I didn't ask for it, you know. In fact, I'd love to be able to give it back to you. You think I like looking like this? I hate it! I'm a guy, not a girl!›

‹_So you hate my body, huh?!_›

He pulled at his hair. ‹That ain't what I said! I hate changing into a girl. Your body looks nice enough, I guess. It ain't like I've spent a lot of time staring at girls and thinking about which ones look good and which ones don't.› He paused, then went on. ‹The best thing about your body is how well it fights. That means a lot more to me than how good it looks. And like I said, it looks fine.›

Ranma sat on the bank of the stream and started washing himself. Akane had apparently been mollified, because she was silent for the moment, without any sensation of anger. As a matter of fact, although she didn't mention it to him, she was feeling quietly pleased.

As Ranma washed his new breasts, he was surprised at how good they felt, and pressed a little more firmly. Akane growled a little, but didn't say anything. A few minutes later as he washed between his legs, he gasped in shock. This time Akane didn't remain silent. ‹_You hentai! Don't do that to my body! You're just supposed to be washing!_›

‹Do what?› Ranma asked innocently, with no trace of sarcasm. ‹I _was_ just washing. Man, that spot sure is sensitive though. Just touching it makes my leg muscles tense. Feels like kind of a hard bump. What is that?›

‹_Don't you know?!_› Her voice sounded shocked beyond belief. ‹_Didn't anyone ever teach you anything about the differences between boys and girls?_›

‹Oh, that stuff!› Ranma blushed deeply. ‹Uh, yeah, I've picked up some stuff. Don't remember anyone mentioning that thing though.›

Akane wished that she had a throat right now, so that she could swallow, hard. She also wanted fists. Boy, did she want fists! It would be wonderful to relieve her sudden stress by pounding on this clueless boy. Unfortunately, such options were closed to her.

Part of her wanted to ignore his ignorance, but Akane's conscience nagged that she was stuck living in this body with him, and it was up to him to take care of it. He was going to need to know what the parts were, and how it all worked. If someone didn't clue the jerk in, then she would suffer right alongside him, and she seemed to be the only one available to do the job.

Still, she could allow herself a temporary, if cowardly, reprieve. ‹_I don't think we have time to go into all that right now. The others are expecting you to finish up so we can be on our way. I, uh, guess we'll ... need to talk about all that ... later. Sometime when we won't be interrupted. And after I work up the nerve._›

Ranma shrugged as if it was of little matter, but he was trying not to blush as he picked up on her nervousness. He quickly finished washing, then immersed himself in the water to rinse off. While he was pulling on his clothes, Akane spoke up again.

‹_If you're going to spend much time like this, you'd better think about getting a bra or two._›

Ranma froze, then yelled, forgetting to stay silent. "I ain't wearing no bra!"

Akane snickered. ‹_That one ought to get you a strange look from your dad when you go back. Seriously though, it's going to get uncomfortable after a while if you don't. Besides, do you really want other guys to be ogling you? They're going to stare enough already, you know, but it'll be a lot worse if you walk around without a bra on._›

Ranma had been pulling his shoes on, but at this he slumped down, head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. He felt a blackness of despair engulfing him. Part of him wanted to just sit there until he died of starvation.

‹_Hey. It isn't that bad,_› Akane said, trying to cheer him up. ‹_At least you're alive and healthy. For that matter, you're able to talk to people and be treated normally. You could've fallen into a pool that would change you into an animal._›

Ranma's only response was, ‹I ain't so sure at the moment that it's so all-fired wonderful to still be alive. Going around like this for the rest of my life ...›

‹_So?_› Akane retorted. ‹_Would you want to trade places with me? Dead, never able to speak to your family and friends again? Stuck in a body over which you have no control, but where you still get to feel everything?_›

Ranma didn't answer this, but instead asked, ‹Oh? And how would you like to be in my place? Knowing that you'd be spending the rest of your life shifting back and forth between a girl's body and a boy's.›

She started to answer quickly, but then slowed down. ‹_It's beginning to look like I_ will _be, since I'm sharing these bodies with you. As for the way you meant the question ... I, well, I suppose I wouldn't like it much. But I wouldn't have any choice, right? I'd just have to go on, and make the best of it. If there's one thing I learned after the morning attacks started, it's that no matter how bad things get, you keep on going. You survive._›

Ranma perked up a little at this, some of his confidence returning. ‹Yeah, you're right. I've been through a lot of crap in my life, but I never let anything stop me, at least not for long. No way I'm going to let this or anything else defeat me. I'm Ranma Saotome!› Akane groaned, but he ignored her.

‹One way or another, I'll manage,› Ranma finished, nodding his head emphatically. He pulled on his shoes and grabbed his pack. Striding back into the clearing, he called out in his new tenor voice, "Okay pop! I'm ready to go! Let's get the supplies we need, and then head back to Japan."

* * *

A few hours later they were hiking down a path between freshly plowed fields. Chickens were scratching in the dirt. The guide was saying, "We entering village of Joketsuzoku now."

Ranma and his father gazed around wearily, eyes glazed with hunger. They were still in their cursed forms, as female and panda, with Ranma dressed in a gi. Fields and houses were tucked away in various crevices and level spots permitted by the mountains. There was a rumbling murmur coming from around a bend up ahead.

As they walked around the bend, they saw a large gathering of people, women in the center and men along the edges. In the very middle was a large log, hanging suspended horizontally between ropes, with two women battling atop it. One of them seemed no more than a teenager herself, and apparently she had dyed her hair purple for some reason. The other was so heavily muscled as to be only marginally recognizable as female. The clash of their weapons was echoed by exclamations from the crowd.

"Oh, Mr. Customers, we in luck," the Jusenkyo guide said. "Today is day of tournament, choose village champion. Women of village will feel generous today." He sat down, concentrating on the match and paying little attention to the pair accompanying him.

Ranma was feeling faint with hunger, and he found himself confronted by a table piled high with food. His eyes opened wider at the sight, and saliva started filling his mouth. Akane of course was sharing the physical feeling of immense hunger with him. One common thought echoed through their shared head. ‹Food!› ‹_Food!_›

Beside him the panda apparently had the same thought. Together they sat down on a bench at the table, and immediately started shoving food into their mouths as fast as they could. They had already achieved a significant reduction in the pile on the table when they suddenly heard an immense shout. Looking up, they saw one of the fighters flying off of the log. The onlookers were shouting hurrahs at the victor, the girl with the purple hair. She jumped off of the log and came marching toward them, when suddenly her eyes started burning with rage. A gasp of consternation and anger came from the throats of the villagers.

The guide turned to look beside him. "Aiyah! Mr. Customers! What you eat here?" He was looking at the sign in front of the table which read, in Chinese, "First Prize."

"Huh?" Ranma looked down at what was in his hands. "Food, right?"

Suddenly a bonborri smashed through the table right under Ranma's nose, splitting the table in half and spilling the remaining food onto the ground. If he had been a hair's breadth slower jumping up into the air, his knees might have been smashed. Instead he ended up sitting on top of the bonborri. The purple-haired girl exclaimed something in Chinese, leaving Ranma looking at the guide quizzically.

The man translated helpfully. "You there! Woman and panda! Why do you steal my prize?! She say."

The girl pulled back and Ranma jumped down. She continued speaking, and the guide continued translating. "Every year this day is martial art show. I, Xian Pu, now am champion. She say."

Ranma considered. ‹I think I can take her, even if I'm not completely used to this body yet. If I win, then the prize should be mine, so there shouldn't be a problem.›

Akane responded thoughtfully, ‹_From what I saw of you fighting with your father earlier, I think you're probably right. Probably. She did look pretty good. I hope you're right, anyway. If you get hurt, I'm going to feel it too._›

Ranma spoke aloud, addressing himself to the Chinese girl. "Shampoo, huh? Then if I defeat you, you've got no problem, right? I'm Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts." The guide helpfully translated this for the girl. The latter nodded her head, then began cracking her knuckles and smiled a grim smile, obviously planning to mete out severe punishment.

Both girls jumped up from the ground onto the log. Shampoo was carrying her two bonborri, but Ranma had no weapon. Something was called out, and the guide translated. "They say you permitted to have weapon if you want."

Ranma shook his head. "Naw. I'm good." The guide didn't bother to translate, as the head shake had been sufficient to convey the meaning of his words. Ranma looked around for his pop, and finally spotted the panda over by the broken table, stuffing the spilled food into their packs. His old man had apparently decided to take advantage of the fact that everyone had their eyes on the fight.

At the signal from an elderly woman on the ground, Shampoo moved in quickly, swinging her bonborri around to strike. Ranma watched carefully, and kept in mind the exact degree of speed he was currently able to get out of this body. At the last moment he ducked inside her swing, and snapped off a kick which caught the Chinese girl under the chin. The bonborri flew off in opposite directions, forcing members of the crowd to jump out of the way. Shampoo herself fell backwards, bounced off of the log, then fell to one side and onto the ground. The onlookers gave a gasp of dismay.

‹_You did it, Ranma!_› Akane was gleeful. It sounded as if she were jumping up and down, and he could picture her pulling an eyelid down and sticking her tongue out at his defeated opponent.

Ranma jumped down, intending to give Shampoo a hand up. He was forestalled when an older female, perhaps in her forties, came up to him and seized his hand. She lifted it over his head, signaling that he was the victor. Shampoo levered herself off of the ground, rubbing her chin, and fixed Ranma with a glare.

For her part, Shampoo was livid. This Japanese girl had not only defeated her, the village champion, but had made it look so easy that it felt like mockery. Shame burned upward from deep in her gut, and made her think about the old laws concerning battle with outsiders. With that, the corners of her mouth turned up in a tight little smile which was anything but pleasant to look upon.

As Shampoo approached him, Ranma started feeling nervous at the look she was giving him. The smile in particular was worrisome. Inside of his head, Akane was in agreement. ‹_Ranma, that's exactly the smile I gave Kuno the first day that the boys attacked me. Right before I kicked him between the legs._›

The boy inside the girl's body winced, but said, ‹I know. I don't like the way she's looking either. But it would look bad if I tried to run away when she may just be coming over to congratulate me.› Even so, he came up ever so slightly on the balls of his feet, ready to bounce away.

With an evil glint in her eye, Shampoo laid the fingertips of one hand along Ranma's cheek. She then leaned in quickly and brushed her lips against his other cheek, startling the boy. ‹What the hell? Is this some weird way of congratulating me?›

‹_Do you always go around kissing foreign girls, Ranma?!_›

‹Hey, she kissed me! I didn't kiss her.›

‹_Hmmph. You didn't try to stop her, pervert._›

In the meantime, Ranma was drawing back, giving the Chinese girl a wary look. ‹C'mon Akane, cut me some slack! I didn't know what she was planning to do, okay?›

Off to the side the Jusenkyo guide screamed, holding a hand up to each cheek. In three long steps he reached Ranma, grabbed the currently girl's hand, and yanked as he ran off. "We must to run, Mr. Customer! You just getting Kiss of Death!"

"Kiss of Death! What the hell is that?" shouted Ranma. They reached the panda, who had already shouldered his pack and was holding out Ranma's. He grabbed it and shrugged it on as he kept running.

"Joketsuzoku have very big pride," the guide panted while running. "Losing to outsider is worse shame than death! Kiss of Death is promise to chase you to end of earth and kill!"

"Damn!" Ranma looked back and saw that Shampoo was already chasing after them, holding a sword. He gave a shudder, and concentrated on running.

Akane asked conversationally, ‹_Does this sort of thing happen to you often, Ranma?_›

‹Too damn often!› he replied. ‹Though usually it's all my pop's fault. Need I remind you that you didn't have any objection to my fighting her?›

Akane sighed. ‹_True. Sorry. How about the guide? He doesn't deserve to be caught in this._›

At that moment they rounded the bend which hid them from the crowd and temporarily from Shampoo. "Keep running pop!" Ranma called to his father. At the same time he grabbed the stout guide around his waist and heaved upward. The Chinese man gave a small shriek as he flew through the air, which was cut off when he landed on a ledge high above the trail. "Stay there and keep out of sight!" Ranma called as he continued running.

Ranma and his father maintained a strong, steady pace, but every time they had a clear line of sight behind themselves, they saw that Shampoo was still hard on their trail. After a couple of hours of alternating run and trot, they found themselves passing through another village. The villagers stared as a panda bear and a girl wearing a gi went tearing down their main road without slowing down. The two were soon out the other side, and vanished into the distance.

Shampoo on the other hand had pulled up short as she saw the village that her prey had run through. ‹Aiyah. Ranma ran through Yaocaicun. If my old enemies Pin Ke and Lin Ke see me, then we'll fight. I'd win of course, but if they manage to get me with their plants, I could lose days in the chase. I may never find Ranma again. I'd better go around, even if it means going around the stupid mountain. That will put me hours behind, but at least I shouldn't lose her completely. Besides, there can't be that many Japanese girls wandering around China with a panda bear.›

So it was that when Ranma and his father made camp for the night, and finally had a chance to change themselves back into males, they believed that they had given Shampoo the slip. Unknown to them, she had found their trail again, and had made camp herself, about thirty kilometers behind them.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Well here's chapter 2, a little sooner than I expected. Stick around for Chapter 3, "Together through China."


	3. Together through China

**Togetherness  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.

* * *

**Chapter 3. Together through China**

The next dawn, Ranma awoke sputtering as a cascade of water washed over his head. He jumped out of his sleeping bag and was reminded of his curse by the extra weight bobbing on his chest. "Whaddya go and do that for, pop? I wanted to spar as a guy this morning!"

"Don't shriek like that," his father told him, tossing a pail aside. "It makes you sound like a girl."

Ranma placed his hands to his chest, cupping his breasts. "I gotta news flash for you, old man! Just at the moment I _am_ a girl!"

‹_Ranma!_› Akane yelled. ‹_Don't treat my chest like that, you pervert!_›

Ranma dodged his father's initial attack, and sent Genma sprawling into the dirt with a well-placed foot to his posterior. ‹Aw, lighten up Akane. I was just trying to get the old man's goat.›

Their sparring continued for an hour. After the first half hour, Ranma managed to knock his father into the stream from which the pail of water had come, changing the man into a panda. He thought that would end the fight, but it turned out Genma wasn't half bad at martial arts even in the shape of a panda bear. After they finished, Ranma put some water on to heat, and started preparing breakfast. Some good had come from the visit to the Chinese village, at least. They would be eating much better this morning than they had for the previous couple of weeks.

As they ate, Ranma was thinking. ‹Okay, the day before yesterday, I get some girl's spirit stuck in my head. Not that I blame her for that.›

‹_How kind of you,_› Akane remarked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ranma ignored her. ‹I also fall in a pool of water that curses me to turn into a girl whenever I get wet. Then yesterday I beat some Chinese chick who gives me a Kiss of Death, and then starts chasing me so she can kill me.› He looked up at the sky contemplatively. ‹So I wonder what Fate has in store for me today?›

Akane asked, ‹_Oh, come on! What's the worst that could happen?_›

Ranma shuddered. ‹I'm not sure I want to ask that. I just hope I don't end up with any more girls trying to kill me. One is enough.›

Akane giggled. ‹_So maybe you're due for something from the other extreme_. I _know. Your father will introduce you to the girl with whom he made an arranged marriage for you while you were still an infant._›

Ranma snarled. ‹Don't even joke about something like that! Can you imagine what sort of girl my pop would pick for me?›

Akane laughed outright. ‹_The mind boggles, as the saying goes. Maybe you're due for a day off, instead. I hope so, anyway. After all, whatever happens to you, happens to me as well._›

Genma decided that he wanted to press on that day, so they didn't bother to stop for lunch, but just ate some food from their packs as they walked. Late in the afternoon a rain shower passed over them, changing them into a girl and a panda bear. The mountainside along which they were walking had no convenient streams or pools of water which had collected, and they did not wish to use the water they were carrying to heat and pour over themselves in order to change back.

While they walked, Ranma and Akane were becoming much better acquainted. She had described her sisters and father and what she could remember of her mother. Ranma had been rather wistful at these descriptions of a reasonably peaceful family life. Akane also talked about her friends at school, and the local doctor who healed all of her injuries. For some reason, though, she seemed a little shy when talking about the doctor and didn't really tell her host very much.

Ranma had then started telling Akane about some of the things which had happened in his life.

‹_You're kidding! You actually slept up in a tree?_›

‹Yeah, it was either that or be a wolf's dinner. After all, there were three of 'em. I was still too young to think about taking on a wild animal like that, and my pop wasn't about to take on three at once when he didn't have to. Mind, he's good enough he could have handled one pretty easily, I think, and might have even been able to deal with all three if he had to. But there wasn't any need to risk it.›

‹Anyway, I've slept in trees several times over the years. There are times when it's a lot safer than sleeping on the ground.›

‹_But isn't it, you know, uncomfortable? Not to mention what happens if you roll over._›

‹I don't have many memories of being comfortable. I've slept outdoors a good bit of my life, and sleeping in a tree ain't much more uncomfortable than sleeping on rocky ground up in the mountains. As for rolling over, you sorta sleep with one eye open. I'm not quite sure how to explain it.›

‹_I just can't imagine living like that._›

Ranma shrugged mentally. ‹It's the only life I've ever known. Except the times we stayed at a dojo somewhere. Those times were a luxury, though.›

Shortly before evening they spotted a cluster of huts higher up on the mountainside. Genma pulled out his sign and wrote, "Climb up there and see if you can get some hot water, boy." Ranma grumbled, but decided to go ahead and do so, not really wanting to stay female himself. He found a trail leading up the steep hillside and started to climb.

As he made his way up the steep slope, Ranma was thinking about the light lunch he had eaten and how hungry he was getting. His pop was probably going to insist on waiting until dark to make camp and prepare supper. His mind thoroughly occupied with thoughts of food, he barely heard the shout from behind, Chinese words which he had come to recognize. "Stop, thief!"

The neo-girl spun around, while thinking, ‹Thief? What has my fool pop done this time?›

He saw two Chinese men, one chasing the other. The one in front was bald, with a manic look on his face, and was carrying a bowl of something. He was shouting in Chinese, which if Ranma had understood the language, would have meant, "Mine! All mine!" The one behind was trying to say something as well.

Ranma thought, ‹Food? Gimme.› Just as the thief was about to run by, Ranma's kick caught him in the chest and sent him flying. Ranma caught the bowl, and wasted no time pouring the contents into his stomach. Dragging the back of his hand across his mouth, he thought to himself, ‹Rice porridge. Man, that was good.›

‹_Ranma!_› Akane's voice was full of exasperation. ‹_Didn't you say the other man called that one a thief? You just ate the porridge that he stole._›

In times of hunger, Ranma had little shame. The other Chinese man came up and looked into the empty bowl, then stuttered, "You ... ate it ..."

Not understanding, the only reply which Ranma made to this was, "More please."

The man was now looking at Ranma in horror. After a few moments a look of suspicion crossed his face, and he reached out to grab hold of the top of Ranma's gi. He yanked the two sides apart, exposing the female breasts of his cursed form. The man gave a huge, relieved sigh, saying, "A girl. Good thing." He had apparently also taken note of Ranma's nationality, since he spoke in Japanese.

‹_Pervert!_› shouted Akane. Naturally, the Chinese gentleman did not hear this.

Ranma did though. With a leg sweep he laid the man out flat, then stepped on his head. While closing his top and tightening the belt around it, he asked, "What exactly do you mean when you say it's a good thing that I'm a girl?"

Although still angry with the pervert, Akane felt it necessary to point out, ‹_I don't think he can answer you with his face shoved into the dirt._›

Ranma grimaced, but took his foot off. "So what did you mean?" he asked.

The man climbed back to his feet. "If you're still hungry, my restaurant is back that way a short distance. Come in and I'll get you something to eat while I explain."

Once Ranma was sitting at a table with a meal in front of him, the man began his explanation. "That rice porridge is this restaurant's secret item. The stock was made with dragon's whisker."

"Dragon's whisker?" Ranma asked, sounding disbelieving.

The restauranteur nodded. "A powerful ingredient for medicinal cooking. It has no effect on women, but should a _man_ eat it ..." He shook his head, indicating some terrible fate. "Well, it fulfills a certain ambition. Many a bloody battle has been fought over that porridge. It's truly lucky that you're female ..."

In the meantime, Ranma had grown tired of being in this female body. Listening to the older man with half an ear, he walked over and lifted a kettle of water which was heating. He poured the water over his head just as the Chinese man was saying how lucky it was that Ranma was female.

Ranma sighed in relief to find himself male again, but then felt something odd crawling down his back. As he reached behind himself to brush at it, he felt something slither along his arm. Pulling his arm back, he saw a mass of black hair. The boy then spun around, and saw hair already spreading on the floor and growing quickly.

The restaurant's owner couldn't help laughing grimly. "So you're a man after all!"

Ranma lifted quantities of black hair in his arms and held them out. "Hey! Is this what you meant by ambition?!" Inside of his head, Akane was laughing herself sick. Ranma lost his temper and pounded the other man over his head several times.

The man climbed back up off the floor groaning. "Until the effect of it runs out, you can use this as a seal." He held up what appeared to be a piece of string. "Tie this around the end of your hair, and it will prevent any further unnatural growth. Otherwise your hair will grow until your life's natural allotment is used up. After that you will be bald."

Ranma's eyes went wide as saucers, as he pictured himself wearing a bandanna like his old man. "Ack! Don't just stand there! Tie it around my hair, fast!"

Akane was no longer laughing. She too was picturing them walking around with no hair on his head. Furthermore, if his original form lost all of his hair, would he have any when his curse made him female? She pictured her body with no hair and gave a mental shudder. Ranma of course was overhearing these thoughts, and gave a weak chuckle at her discomfiture.

Meanwhile the restaurant's owner had gathered the hair closest to Ranma's head and pulled it back tightly, then used the dragon's whisker to tie it off at a length of around thirty centimeters. Grabbing a knife, he quickly hacked off the hair below this tie. With a degree of contrition in his voice, he said, "For stopping the thief, and because I was not quick enough to warn you, I will let you keep the dragon's whisker to protect your hair. However, be warned. If any man who is bald should learn of its secret, great trouble will befall you."

Ranma snorted. "Yeah, right. So whatever I do, I don't tell pop about it."

Ranma filled a canteen with some of the leftover hot water, then said good-bye to the owner. As he made his way back down the trail, Akane was trying to be sympathetic. ‹_I'm sorry about your hair, Ranma. Of course, since your father's bald, you'll probably go bald yourself some day anyway._›

‹Did you intend that to be comforting?› Ranma wanted to know, annoyance clear in his tone. ‹'Cause if so, you missed the mark.›

Genma used the hot water to change back to a man, not questioning the length of time his son took, nor even noticing how the boy's hair was tied differently. The two of them continued on until near dark, then made camp where a landslide had carved a scoop out of the mountainside, and a small thread of water was trickling down.

It was fully dark by the time they finished dinner, and the two of them arranged their sleeping bags on either side of their small fire. Before Ranma could climb into his bag, Akane decided that she had put off a certain lecture long enough.

‹_Ranma,_› she started. ‹_I know you don't like being female, but would you mind changing for tonight? There are some things I ought to tell you about, that I'm not sure you ever learned. It'll be easier for me if you're in a girl's body. Although the fact that it's also my body will probably make it a bit harder. Even so ..._›

The boy sighed. ‹Do we have to do this tonight?›

Akane's response was firm. ‹_Have to? No. But we ought to soon. It's not very late yet tonight, nobody's attacking you, it's pretty peaceful. Do you want to count on having as good an opportunity tomorrow, or the next day?_›

Ranma had to admit that she made a good point. With a barely audible grumble he made his way over to the trickle of water, and stuck his head under it. After several seconds the curse triggered, and he walked back to his sleeping bag as a female. He decided to take the opportunity to pull the dragon's whisker off for a minute, and retie his hair into a tighter pigtail. Once this was done and the whisker tied at the end again, Ranma pulled off his shirt and pants, and climbed into his sleeping bag. Finally, he gave Akane his full attention.

‹_So first of all ..._›

* * *

The next morning, Ranma was awake before his father, and he lay quietly, staring at the sky as the day gradually dawned. He was still female, and he now knew a good deal more about what that meant than he had yesterday. He tried to remember a more embarrassing experience than the, er, _hands on_ tutoring session which Akane had given him last night, but failed utterly.

Akane had lost her temper with him more than once during the talk because of his ignorance, not to mention stumbling to a halt due to her own nervousness several times. However, all things considered, he was amazed at how patient she had been with him. She had quickly passed on for those things it turned out he already knew, filled in the gaps of what he didn't know, and corrected a large number of misconceptions he had managed to accumulate.

For her part, Akane had been just as embarrassed as Ranma. It had been especially bad because it was her own body that she was explaining to the boy, and more than once she might have given up if it weren't for the fact that she was going to have to live in that body with him. One thing that she had learned from the experience was that Ranma certainly wasn't a pervert. In the first place, there had been so many gaps in his knowledge that it had been a little difficult for him to _have_ truly perverted thoughts. In the second place, it had taken considerable coaxing to talk him into touching the parts which differed from his male body so that he could learn about them.

There was a touch of regret in Akane's voice as she told him, ‹_You know, Ranma, I almost wish that we could have met while I was still alive._›

‹What do you mean, Akane?›

Akane struggled with the words, even now finding it a little difficult to admit. ‹_It's just ... you're the first boy my age I've ever met who wasn't a pervert._›

‹Wasn't that you calling me a pervert the other day?›

He felt her stick out a mental tongue at him. ‹_That was before last night. It became pretty obvious while we were, um, talking, that you don't have a clue how to be a pervert._› The regret reentered her voice. ‹_It might've been nice to have been friends. Maybe even ... well, too late now._›

Ranma considered her words. ‹Well, it doesn't seem like you're going to be disappearing anytime soon. I suppose we could still be friends, in a 'we'll never meet in person' sort of way. At least, I hope we can be friends. Could get kind of rough sharing my head with someone who isn't friendly.›

He heard Akane sigh, then give a little laugh. She felt his concern, and told him, ‹_Don't worry about it, Ranma. And yes, I hope we can be friends too. Like you said, it's beginning to look like we're going to be together for a long time._›

Ranma was determined to spar with his old man as a male this morning, so he crawled out of his sleeping bag and fetched some water to heat. As soon as the water was hot enough, he poured it over his own head and transformed back to his original body. Then he walked around the fire and poured what was left over his father's head, gleefully taking revenge for all too many rude awakenings. Instead of leaping gracefully out of his own sleeping bag, the spluttering and indignant man got tangled up in it. It took him a couple of minutes to extricate himself, with Ranma standing off to the side and laughing the entire time.

This time they managed to stay both human and male through to the end of their morning workout, probably because there were no significant bodies of water, or even puddles, into which they could fall. While Ranma was fixing their breakfast, and doing his best to ignore Akane's suggestions for how to "improve" it, he decided to ask his father a question which had been puzzling him.

"Hey, old man! How were you thinking of getting us back to Japan anyway?"

Genma gave his son a quizzical look. "The same way we got here, of course."

Ranma sighed, reminding himself that his father was no mental giant. "You mean walk to the coast and then swim back to Japan?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," the older man said with only half of his attention, the other half being given to anticipation of the meal his son was preparing. A trickle of saliva slid down his chin as he watched.

Ranma shook his head, deciding to be blunt. "So pop, just how good a swimmer is a panda bear, anyway?" He couldn't keep a smile off of his face as his father suddenly looked like someone had struck the man between his eyes with a large, blunt object. "I ain't all that sure about my own cursed form, either. It's pretty strong, but I haven't used it enough to know if it's got the endurance for that kind of swim. Unless you've figured out a way for us not to transform once we dive into the cold ocean?"

‹_Uh, Ranma?_› Akane spoke up tentatively. ‹_I, uh, don't know how to swim._›

The boy smiled. ‹That's okay, Akane. I know how to, and I'm the one controlling our movements. I'm sure I can swim in that form, but I don't want to get halfway to Japan and then discover I don't have the strength to get any further.›

He felt Akane shudder deep inside of himself. There was a good deal of nervousness in her voice as she responded, ‹_We definitely don't want to risk that. The idea of drowning ... well, you'll probably find out one of these days, that's another nightmare I sometimes have._›

As Ranma removed the food from above the flames to serve himself and his father, Genma finally started to recover from his daze. The man said, "I'll have to think about that, boy. It would be good training for you to make the swim in your cursed form, but as you suggest, a panda bear might not be able to make it. I'll consider alternatives before we reach the coast. Just don't expect me to buy you passage across on a ship."

"Don't worry, pop," Ranma replied with a snort. "I'd never have been stupid enough to expect that of you."

By late morning, the pair were finally coming down out of the mountains. Another passing rain shower had transformed them into panda and girl again, and Ranma was grumbling about how the weather patterns seemed to be targeting them. They stopped briefly for lunch before continuing on their way. Around midafternoon they came over the crest of another hill to find a small town in front of them, nestled beside a small river which came down out of the same hills as themselves. The river emerged several kilometers off to the south, before bending toward the town. Taking in the view from the top of the hill, Ranma estimated the population at about four thousand souls, give or take.

In addition to the houses and a couple of factories along the river, Akane noticed that there were some stores in the town. ‹_Ranma, there are stores down there. We can probably pick up some things, if you have any money. A bra for one thing._›

‹I don't wanna wear no bra!› he told her vigorously, breasts heaving with the anger of his response.

Akane sighed, wishing she could rub her face with her hands again. ‹_Ranma, please listen. I'm ... uncomfortable ... walking around so much without a bra on. It isn't so bad when the only other person around is your father, especially if he's a panda bear at the time. But the closer we get to the coast, the more we're going to be around other people. Do you want guys to be leering at your chest?_›

‹I'll get some hot water in town and change back,› he told her. ‹Then there won't be anything to stare at.›

‹_And what about tomorrow?_› she asked reasonably. ‹_If it rains on you again, or you get splashed by some puddle, or someone spills something on you? What about the next day, and the day after that? Hot water isn't always going to be conveniently available to change back. I'm only suggesting that you have a bra available to wear for those times when you're going to be stuck as a girl for a while._›

They had started down the hill during this internal conversation, and would soon need to decide whether to skirt around the town or proceed through it. Ranma gave no further answer to Akane at first. He sure as _hell_ didn't want other guys looking at him like that. He had to admit though, that whether he liked it or not, they probably were going to stare at him. Also, Akane probably had a point that it was going to be worse if he didn't wear a bra at those times. On the other hand, wearing a bra would amount to a major admission that he really was a girl when he changed, and not just a guy whose body happened to temporarily look a little funny. He wanted to scream that he really was a guy, and have that somehow magically prevent him from ever needing to consider his curse again.

Ranma waited until his father started to turn aside to go around the town, and then called for the panda to wait. In his presently female form, he squatted down and thought hard for a few minutes, realizing that he did need to make a decision here. Mercifully, Akane kept silent and let him work it out for himself. It wasn't just the bra, he knew. There were other things he should pick up as well, things which they had discussed during that highly embarrassing nighttime lecture.

‹Okay, dammit,› he berated himself, ‹whether I like it or not, and I don't, eventually I'm going to have to do this. If I avoid it right now, then all I'm really doing is delaying that moment. So why am I insisting on avoiding it?›

The panda was looking at him quizzically, and holding up a sign asking what the delay was. Ranma ignored him, and looked inward for the answer. ‹I guess ... it's just that I feel so humiliated to be a girl, when I know I'm a guy. It ... scares me. Crap. It does, it scares me. I worry that I might decide I like it, or that I might start looking at guys that way. It makes me sick to think of them looking at me like that.›

Akane offered, ‹_From where I'm sitting, I don't think you need to worry very much. I don't see any chance you'll start acting like a girl. If anything, you're_ too _damn macho._›

Ranma groaned softly. ‹Thanks, I think. I suppose ... I shouldn't put this off. I should face it now. It'll probably just get harder the longer I wait.›

He turned to his father and said, "Pop? I think I ought to go into town and pick up a couple of things. Besides, maybe we can find some hot water and change back."

The bear held up his sign, which now read, "What sort of things? We don't have much money."

Ranma grinned at him evilly. "Female things, pop. And before you object, just remember that it's your fault that I'm a girl half the time now."

The panda's sign now read, "Nonsense boy. You don't need such things."

Ranma undid his shirt and pulled it open, exposing his breasts, causing Akane to snarl. "In case you've forgotten, I'm not a boy right now. I'm a girl. And some damn rainstorm or something is gonna make me a girl again tomorrow, and probably every day after that. Not to mention that we need to cross an ocean of cold water. Now either give me some money and follow me into that town peacefully, or I'll run into it screaming about a rabid panda bear that's chasing me."

His father growled at him, but finally shrugged off his pack and set it on the ground in front of Ranma. The teenager rummaged around in it and located some of the money, taking a small quantity which he thought would be sufficient. The bear lifted the pack again, and they turned their steps in the direction of a nearby path which led toward the road into town. Genma hung behind and followed his son, trying to act the part of a trained animal, hoping that he looked relatively harmless.

Quite a few people stared at them as they walked down the road. Ranma tried to ignore them, since he realized that it was a very unusual sight to see a panda bear strolling upright behind a teenage girl, not to mention that it was wearing a large pack. They quickly made their way to the street where the stores were located, and stopped in front of one which sold clothing. Ranma turned to his father and said, "Wait out here pop," then opened the door and went in.

The store was small, with only a single employee, an elderly man standing behind a counter with a cash register. Ranma made his way over to where the women's underwear was located, then stood looking a little helpless. ‹What next?› he asked his passenger nervously.

Akane tried to keep her voice gentle, not wanting to spook him. ‹_Hmm. Shoot! They don't seem to have any sports bras, which would have been my first choice for you. Okay, we'll stick with something simple and basic, I think. You don't want anything in an interesting color, or lacy, or like that. Just plain white cotton. Look over to your left a bit._›

‹These?› he asked, pointing.

‹_Yes. The size you want is 85B. Notice the tags along the side straps? The size should be printed there._›

Ranma started rummaging through the bras, feeling highly embarrassed just to be touching these garments. He pointed out a 90B, then an 85A. Akane assured him that those would not be acceptable substitutes, and she took a minute to explain to him what the size designation meant. He finally found one the right size, and tried scrunching it up in his hand, as if trying to hide it from sight.

‹I only need to get one, right?› he practically begged her.

Akane was starting to get a little tired of trying to sound sympathetic, but managed to keep it up a little longer. ‹_Yes, one should do for now. We can get more later if it looks like you need to wear this one more than expected._›

Ranma breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and turned toward the counter behind which the man was standing who had been watching him since he came in. Before he could take a step, however, Akane said, ‹_Now you need to pick up some panties._›

Ranma paled. ‹You didn't say anything about that earlier! Why?›

Akane tried not to snicker. ‹_Do you remember what I told you that night about periods?_›

He didn't really want to remember, and didn't see any immediate connection, but answered, ‹Yes ...?›

This time Akane sounded a little embarrassed. ‹_Well, I ... uh ... was due for mine ... in less than a week, back on the day you got cursed. And it's been a few days since then. Given that your cursed form seems identical to my body ..._› She left the sentence hanging.

Now Ranma sounded horrified. ‹You mean I might go through that in just a couple of days? You said it only happened once a month! I thought I had more time!›

Akane thought to herself that he sounded rather like a six year old who was told that he was going to the doctor for a check-up, only to discover when he got there that he was going to get a vaccination and the doctor had just pulled out a huge needle. She tried to remind herself that it was a rather shocking situation for a teenage boy to find himself in.

This time she tried a slightly more stern tone. ‹_First of all, Ranma, I don't_ know _that it will happen that soon. It may be that the passage of time for that only counts when you're in your cursed form. But it would be best to be prepared, don't you think?_›

He hung his head low, earning a curious glance from the store's employee. ‹Oh man ... why me? Okay, but why do I need to have girl's panties?›

She continued sternly. ‹_I explained about the pads to you, Ranma. They won't work very well with boxers. Now be a man and pick up a package over there, the plain white ones, no, over to your right, those are the ones. Yes, those, good. That one you picked up is even the right size._›

‹There are three pairs in this package,› he reported a little dubiously.

‹_If you need them, you'll need to change them a little more often than you'll need to change a bra. Now come on, go and buy them, and then let's find a drugstore or something similar._›

Blushing furiously, Ranma made his way to the counter and purchased the undergarments. He then quickly stuffed them out of sight deep down in his pack. Opening the door, he found his pop outside on his back, all four paws in the air, tossing a ball into the air and catching it repeatedly. Several children were standing around watching.

"What gives, pop?" he asked.

The bear tossed the ball to one of the children, then pulled out his sign. He wrote, "This body likes to play like that."

Ranma shrugged. "Okay, whatever. I got another stop to make." He looked around, then spotted a likely store a few doors further down. "Be back out in a few minutes. Try not to get into too much trouble, okay?"

They went into the next store, and Akane directed him to the feminine hygiene products. This time he didn't even try to argue, figuring it would only lead to greater embarrassment. He picked up what Akane told him to pick up, paid for it, secreted it as far down toward the bottom of his pack as possible without taking everything out, and then tried hard to forget it was there.

When he came out of the store, Ranma saw the panda sitting with its back to a wall and its eyes closed. "Yo, pop!" he called. When this got no response, he walked up and kicked the bear, causing it to snort and then turn angry eyes on him. "Come on, pop. There's a little café over there. I can order some tea and get some hot water." His father shambled to his feet and shuffled after.

The café owner raised an eyebrow at the tame bear who sat down at the table with the teenage girl, but for some reason made no comment. Ranma asked for two teas and some hot water, and the man disappeared through a doorway. The pair took a look around, noticing that they were the only customers at the moment.

The serenity of the moment was shattered an instant later as a wall bulged inward and then exploded. Both of them stared in shock at the purple-haired Chinese girl standing revealed in the hole, and also at the huge mace she was carrying. She pointed at Ranma and announced, "You I kill!"

Ranma gave a high pitched squeak, and sort of stood in his chair causing it to fall over backwards in such a way that he landed standing on the floor. He managed this an instant before the mace splintered the table at which he had been sitting. His father had also succeeded in rolling out of the way just in time, but their attacker paid little heed to the bear.

"Can't we discuss this, Shampoo?" Ranma begged. The girl he addressed only growled at him, then rushed forward to attack again. He dodged the blow, then grabbed his pack and ducked through the hole she had made. He ran down a street, then around a corner into a narrow lane. With a prodigious display of skill, he leapt against the wall on one side, then across the lane to the wall on the other side, and then finally onto the roof on the first side.

He ducked down quickly, then peeked out just in time to see Shampoo run by underneath. After waiting several minutes and hoping that the coast was clear, he jumped down to the ground and ran back to the café as fast as he could. The panda bear was standing outside the hole in the wall, sipping at a cup of tea. Ranma grabbed his father's paw, then started running down a road in a direction opposite the one Shampoo was last traveling and at a right angle to their original path through the town.

This quickly brought them to the river, and Ranma did not even hesitate. He jumped in, pulling the panda after him, and the two of them swam to the other side. They quickly disappeared into some trees standing on that side, and made their way up and over a hill. They paused for a moment to catch their breath, then hurried on.

"Dammit! I thought we'd lost her!" Ranma complained to no one in particular.

His father's only answer was a "Growf!"

‹_She must be pretty good at tracking, Ranma,_› Akane commented. ‹_Somebody will probably be able to tell her which direction we took out of town. After that ... well, even I can see the footprints and pawprints, and the damage to the undergrowth that we're leaving behind._›

Ranma agreed with her. ‹Yeah, you're right. We're not going to lose her like this. Still, for the moment I think we'd better concentrate on putting some distance between us. Then we need to start looking for a road or stream or something like that, where we won't leave a trail, and where there's nobody around to see us and tell her which way we went.›

‹_Sounds like you've done this before,_› Akane suggested.

Ranma shrugged. ‹Travel with my old man for awhile, and eventually you're gonna find yourself running from somebody. So yeah, we've been on the run a time or two in the past. Not something I'm proud of, y'understand? There are times when I wish I really could beat some sense into him, but beating on him never seems to help.›

* * *

Whether by luck or skill, they saw no more of Shampoo for the rest of that day. After night fell and they made camp, Ranma told Akane more stories of his past, such as one from when he was twelve.

‹So pop had stolen this necklace from a statue and hidden it in my pack. Well, that night this spirit, or something, appeared and said it would punish me. All of a sudden I was floating about ten centimeters above the ground. It said the punishment would be removed when I returned what I had stolen, then it disappeared.›

‹_You're joking, right? I mean, you were floating?_›

‹Yep. Couldn't touch the ground. Would you believe at first my pop tried to figure out some way he wouldn't have to return the thing? Of course, once you get to know my pop, it ain't that hard to believe.›

‹_I'm beginning to see why you weren't more upset to suddenly have some strange voice talking to you in your head._›

‹Heh. Not the strangest thing that's happened to me, like I said. So we made kind of a bizarre sight, him walking back to the temple towing a rope tied around my waist, while I slowly rotated around my center of balance. No way to stop myself from spinning, y'see.›

Akane was snickering over the image he described. ‹_Any particular reaction when you got back to the temple?_›

‹The priest there gave pop a real knowing look when he walked up, and held out his hand. The moment the necklace was in the priest's hand, I suddenly dropped back to the ground. Right on the backs of pop's legs, 'cause he was kneeling right then.›

Akane laughed, then declared, ‹_From what I've seen, he hasn't really learned his lesson, though._›

Ranma's response was a little sad. ‹No, I'm afraid he hasn't.›

* * *

Shampoo proved to be a very skilled tracker indeed. She caught up to them again the next day, as they were hiking down a farm lane. As soon as they caught sight of one another it turned into a running chase. Shampoo grabbed a pitchfork from a farmer who stood aside watching them run past, and threw it. Ranma was nearly knocked to his knees when it thudded home into his pack.

That chase continued for an exhausting three hours before a stroke of luck occurred. They came around a thick stand of trees to see a wagon parked by the side of the road, with a steaming pot of tea on the seat. There was a man, presumably the driver, standing behind some bushes answering a call of nature. Without pausing for thought, the panda grabbed the pot and dumped the hot tea over himself and his son.

When Shampoo ran up a moment later she stared at the pair suspiciously, as well as the man returning to the wagon. When she asked, in both Chinese and broken Japanese, if they had seen a panda and a girl, the Chinese man just shook his head, while the two Japanese men pointed into the trees. She nodded her thanks and tore off into the trees to continue the hunt for her quarry.

The day after, Ranma and his father were passing through a large city, once again in their cursed forms, when by a stroke of luck they spotted Shampoo before she spotted them. The city offered numerous hiding places, and they hid behind a vendor's goods in a market while they watched the girl walk by trying to spot them. They waited there for quite a while after Shampoo passed, and then left the city in a different direction.

* * *

It was a couple of days later, and the pair were traveling down yet another farm lane. The time was approximately mid-morning, and so far there had been no rain or accidents with water, so both men were still human and male. Genma happened to have strolled ahead, perhaps ten meters in front of Ranma.

Ranma ignored his father while he and Akane were thoroughly engaged in an intense, internal conversation concerning martial arts training. The two had been doing a great deal of talking over the last several days, there being little else that Akane _could_ do, and a fast friendship was developing between them. Akane still hadn't quite come to terms with the fact that it was _possible_ to be friends with a boy.

While they walked, there was a slight rustle in the grass at the side of the lane, and Ranma looked over quickly. A rabbit or some other small animal would be a welcome addition to their diet, and he slid closer as stealthily as he could. Then a demon's face emerged from the tall grass.

Ranma backpedaled furiously, and Akane felt an intense wave of terror washing over him. Nor was she completely immune to it, since she was sharing his body and everything it felt, and the amount of adrenaline pouring into his bloodstream was astonishing. She looked again at the creature which had emerged at the side of the road, wishing she could blink away the superposition of images she saw.

On the one hand, she was seeing a perfectly ordinary cat, just past kittenhood. It was black, with white paws and a white nose, and its eyes were a greenish-yellow. On the other hand, its eyes were glowing red, its mouth was filled with fangs, and its paws were armed with curving scimitars. The latter image was quite frightening, particularly the malevolent intelligence lurking behind the glowing eyes.

‹_What is that thing?_› Akane asked, trying to control her own fear. ‹_I thought at first it was just a cat. Is it some kind of demon?_›

Ranma broke, then turned and ran off the opposite side of the road into a field. He finally tripped over a scarecrow and fell on his face, then just lay there in the dirt trying to get his breathing back under control. It finally occurred to him to answer Akane.

‹It was a ... c-cat. A nasty, evil c-cat. They want to b-bite, to claw. Can't get away. ...›

‹_What's going on, Ranma?_› Akane wanted to know. ‹_Are you saying that was just an ordinary cat?_›

The boy shuddered, still not getting up or even looking up. He started pulling together the tattered shreds of his normally excessive self-confidence. He didn't want to answer, he felt ashamed of the way he always reacted. Still, he supposed that she ought to know, since she was stuck in here with him.

‹I'm scared of cats,› he started to tell her.

‹_No kidding?_› she responded primly.

‹Do you want to hear this or not?› he said rather hotly. She didn't answer that, but the quiet felt just a tad apologetic, and he went on. ‹My pop tried to train me once in a supposedly unbeatable martial arts technique, called the neko-ken. He didn't bother to finish reading where it said that only an idiot would make the attempt. The training consisted of tying me up, wrapping me in fish sausage, then throwing me into a pit of starving cats. So that's what he did, for three days in a row.›

‹_That sounds pretty ... nasty,_› she replied after a moment. ‹_But wouldn't something like that have left scars?_›

‹You mean aside from my fear of cats?› he asked with bitter humor. ‹Yeah, I have some if you know where to look, but most of them have faded since then.›

‹_How long ago was this?_› she inquired, startled.

Ranma thought for a moment. ‹About six years,› he finally told her.

‹_Six ...! You'd have only been ten years old!_› Akane's voice was filled with outrage.

Ranma rolled over onto his back and shrugged. ‹That's right. 'A martial artist's life is fraught with peril,' is what my pop would say.›

‹_That's ... that's ... oooh ... I wish I wasn't trapped in here. I want to beat the stuffing out of him! How could he do that to a child that young?!_›

Ranma chuckled weakly. ‹Not a question I've ever been able to answer, myself. I suppose I should warn you about the rest.›

‹_You mean there's more?!_› Her voice sounded if possible even more shocked.

‹Yeah,› he replied in a monotone that hinted he was controlling his emotions. ‹You see, I really did learn the technique, only it isn't quite what pop was expecting. This time I was okay 'cause I was able to get away. When I can't get away, I forget that I'm human and think I'm a cat. When that happens, I really am pretty dangerous. When it's happened before, I recovered after I went to sleep and woke up again.›

After a minute Akane said, ‹_That's just unbelievable!_›

Ranma scowled. ‹You think I'm lying to you?›

He felt her mental wince. ‹_No, no, that's not what I meant. I was just expressing disbelief, you know, shock, that anyone could do that to his own son. I just ... can't understand someone doing that._›

‹Yeah, I know,› Ranma said wearily.

He slowly climbed to his feet, and saw Genma making his way through the field in his son's direction. As he got closer he called out, "Well? Hurry up boy. We don't want that Chinese girl to catch up to us again, do we?" The older man then turned around and started hiking off again, confident that his son would follow. After a rebellious twinge, Ranma did so.

* * *

Shampoo did catch up to them a couple of more times before they reached the coast, but each time they managed to make good their escape. As the two men traveled further east, they came across more roads, towns and cities. This provided them with more opportunities to throw Shampoo off of their trail, particularly with a judicious application of hot water.

Ranma had found himself wearing his new bra on more than one occasion. The first such occasion came when they passed through a small village where some farm workers ogled him quite openly, and a couple even tried to grope his female body. He left them unconscious, and with the expectation of considerable pain when they awoke, but he had decided that until he could get a chance to heat some water that perhaps it would be best to give in. This had not stopped him from grumbling considerably, particularly as Akane talked him through adjusting the straps for a better fit.

One morning after their sparring session, when Ranma was bathing in the river beside which they had set up camp, he came to a realization. ‹Hey, Akane. I just noticed. The last few times I bathed, you haven't warned me not to peek. It ain't bothering you anymore?›

He heard Akane sigh. ‹_I guess I've pretty much accepted that we're going to be this way from now on. It's not really my body anymore. Your old body and my body ... they're both yours now. Or yours and mine both, since we're stuck in them together. Sharing your first experience of a period also made me reevaluate some of my feelings. After a while it started seeming stupid to keep complaining about you looking at the body you need to wash and otherwise take care of._›

‹Oh.› He thought about that. ‹I suppose you're right. I still ain't too happy to think of your body as mine. To me, my body is my male one, and it's gonna be a long time, if ever, before I can think of your girl's body as mine too. It'd feel a bit like a kind of surrender. All the same, I'm glad if you don't mind so much anymore. It's a lot easier to do things if I don't have to worry about trying not to look at myself.›

He heard Akane murmur an agreement, although she didn't sound so cheerful about it. ‹_I've been going through the same thing, you know,_› she told him. ‹_You always pour hot water on yourself after you bathe, before you get dressed, which has treated me to a number of looks at your male body. Not to mention, uh, 'calls of nature.' Whether I like it or not, I'm starting to get used to looking down and seeing 'that.'_›

Ranma smirked, and almost teased her about her word choice, but decided he didn't want to start an argument. Their arguments always left him with a headache, which was an incentive to avoid them. Instead, he called out across the screening bushes, "Hey pop! How much further y'think we are from the coast?"

After a moment's thoughtful silence, Genma replied, "About a day, I think. Then there's the question of whether we need to move up or down the coast. I wanted to arrive in Shanghai, but avoiding Shampoo has us off course a bit, and I'm not sure at the moment whether we're too far north or south. If we were going to swim, it wouldn't matter as much. Since we're not planning to swim, we're going to need some sort of boat which is going to Japan."

Ranma finished dressing and joined his father. Genma had cooked breakfast that morning, and both Ranma and Akane looked unhappily at the mess in front of him. With grim determination, he started to eat.

* * *

Three days later the two men were stowed away aboard a freighter headed to Japan, and the ship was finally putting out to sea. Shampoo had caught up with them again in Shanghai and Ranma had been forced to fight to hold her off while the panda made its escape with their packs for the ship they had selected. Ranma had won the fight when he kicked the Chinese girl into an open sewer, and her howled imprecations were the last sound he had heard of her. Unfortunately, this occurrence meant that they had snuck aboard in their cursed forms, and they had no access to water other than that which they had brought with them, nor any means to heat that water.

As they got out onto the high sea, Ranma quickly discovered that swimming in the ocean was quite different from the rocking motion of being aboard a boat out on the ocean. To his immense chagrin he found himself feeling seasick at first, and his only consolation was that Akane was experiencing it with him. Actually, that wasn't any consolation, since her temper got pretty nasty. Things weren't helped by the panda writing malicious comments about food for its own amusement, until Ranma threatened to take the sign away and smash it.

After several hours Ranma finally started to find his sea legs, and the feeling of nausea diminished. Since this also meant that Akane started feeling better, the two were able to converse civilly again. They started trying to make plans for what they would do on their arrival in Nerima.

The biggest question they discussed was whether or not to inform the Tendo's that Akane's spirit was now living inside of Ranma and that he could speak to her. It hadn't taken them long to decide that they weren't going to be able to hide the curse itself, so it came down to whether they should try to pass off the similarity of appearance as a coincidence, or reveal its connection to Akane's presence. Ranma tried to argue that her family should know that their daughter and sister wasn't completely lost to them, and that it was possible to talk to her with himself playing the role of translator.

However, Akane didn't accept this. She admitted that the question of convincing her family that she really was there was not insurmountable. Ranma could describe for them any number of things that no one other than Akane should be able to know, which ought in sum to be fairly convincing. The problem was more that she didn't want their pity, and didn't want to see their faces as they thought about her being present while not being fully there. She decided that it would hurt too much to be able to talk to them in a sense, while not being able to truly be with them.

Eventually Akane convinced Ranma that, in her opinion, it would be best if her family continued to think of her as dead. They would visit Nerima for a short time, as his father intended, then move on. It would be too cruel, to both her family and herself, to bring her back into their lives, but only in this partial sense where they could never fully have her again, and where she was destined to leave again when Ranma did.

The night that she made this decision final, a few hours before they were due to dock in Japan, Ranma listened to Akane crying inside of his head. He could think of no words of comfort to say to the young woman whose spirit now accompanied him everywhere.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Stay tuned for Chapter 4, "Together in Japan," when we will finally learn what happened to Akane.

I want to thank PPMKatie for naming _Togetherness_ her choice for March Fanfic of the Month on her "Barry's Island" Live Spaces page.


	4. Together in Japan

**Togetherness  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.

* * *

**Chapter 4. Together in Japan**

The panda bear and teenaged girl slipped over the side of the ship and snuck ashore under cover of darkness, a few hours before dawn. It didn't take long to find a public bathhouse which was open all night, and for a few yen a worker inside was convinced to bring a pail of hot water out to them. He watched in amazement as the young woman poured the water over both the bear and herself, and two men took their places. The younger one handed back the pail with a smile, and they headed off, leaving the employee behind still trying to lift his chin off of the pavement.

Akane had stressed the importance of arriving at her house with Ranma in his male form. At her suggestion, he went into a store and purchased a thermos, in which water could be kept hot for a period of time. Ranma was kicking himself for not having thought of something of the sort back in China, when passing through one of the towns which was big enough that they could have found something similar.

He came out of the store in time to see Genma slipping out of the local post office, looking shifty. After some initial hemming and hawing, the older man finally admitted to sending a postcard to his old friend to let him know that they were on their way, and could be expected some time tomorrow. Ranma shrugged, knowing there was something more to it than that but unwilling to pursue it at the moment. He was more concerned with Akane. She was silent but clearly worried, realizing how close she was to seeing her family again, and yet how far they would remain apart.

Later that morning, the two of them were crouched and clinging on the roof of a train, headed in the direction of Tokyo. Genma had never considered purchasing tickets and Ranma, accustomed to his father's ways, hadn't even bothered to remark on it. A little later still, after a brief cloudburst, a panda and a girl crouched on top of the train instead.

* * *

They camped overnight in a park in central Tokyo, choosing a discrete location where they hoped not to be spotted. In the morning Ranma prepared their breakfast, and filled the thermos with hot water. Genma had decided that they would not spar that morning, and that they would hike across the city to Nerima instead of trying to use the public transportation any further. They reached Nerima late in the morning, and Genma called a halt so that they might prepare their lunch.

When they were done and their lunch gear cleared away, Genma signaled for his son to remain seated, and then turned to face him squarely. He pushed his glasses up with his forefinger, and gave Ranma his most serious expression. Naturally, this started alarm bells ringing inside the boy.

Genma's first words did nothing to calm Ranma's worry, either. "Now, boy, I need to tell you a couple of things about our visit to Soun Tendo."

Ranma replied warily, "What are you up to, old man?"

His father ignored the question. "In the first place, we're not going there for a short visit. We won't be there for you to study a new martial arts technique. We will be staying there permanently."

‹_What!_› Akane shouted inside the boy's head.

Ranma wiggled a finger inside of his ear, and implored her silently not to shout so loud. Of his father, he asked, "Exactly why will we be staying there permanently, pop?"

"Tendo-san has three daughters, close to you in age. A long time ago, before you were even born in fact, he and I made a pact. The two branches of Anything Goes Martial Arts will be united in your generation, when you marry one of his daughters and take over his dojo. We are going there so that you can meet your fiancée."

‹_What!_› Akane shouted even louder than before.

"Are you crazy, pop!" Ranma was shouting now too. "What makes you think that you can pick out a fiancée for me? I've never even met them! You've gone completely out of your mind, you know that?"

‹_I thought that I was daddy's heir,_› Akane was wailing. ‹_And all along, you were supposed to come in and take over?_›

‹Listen, I didn't know nothing about it,› Ranma tried to tell her.

Genma continued speaking. "You'll do as you're told, you ungrateful boy. This is a matter of honor, understand? It's your duty to marry one of these girls and take over the dojo."

"Like hell I will!" Ranma jumped up, grabbed his pack, and ran off. His father leapt quickly to his feet and gave chase.

‹_So you were supposed to come here and get engaged to me, huh?_› Akane was snarling. ‹_I was right all along, you are just like all of the other boys. Just another pervert like all of them._›

‹I said I didn't know nothing about it!› Ranma snarled right back. ‹For that matter, what about you? Are you gonna try to tell me that your father never mentioned this before?›

‹_He didn't!_› Akane protested. ‹_No one's every told me about any of this!_›

‹Well no one's ever told me, either, so what the hell are you yelling at me for?› His mental shout died down to grumbling as he concentrated on running, aware that he hadn't managed to lose his father yet.

‹_You swear you never knew?_› Akane demanded.

Ranma snapped back, ‹Dammit! Yeah, I swear. I didn't know. Now do you have any bright ideas? Because pop is managing to keep up with me. You know this town, don't you? Any thoughts on how to lose him?›

None of them had noticed the increasing darkness as they ran. At that moment there was a huge crack of thunder and the skies opened up. The girl continued to run, splashing through the puddles, with a panda bear hot on her heels. Fifteen minutes passed, and then the rain stopped, but the chase continued.

The panda had closed the distance considerably, and attempted a diving tackle. Ranma managed to leap above the grasping paws, shouting, "Yo! Cut that out!" Passersby stopped to stare at the strange pair. Ranma managed to land a solid kick, sending the panda skidding down the street on its back, a spray of water shooting out to either side.

Genma stood back up, and dragged a paw across his mouth. He turned his head to the side, and spat ostentatiously, while the spectators gawked. He lifted his paws into a ready stance, then attacked.

Ranma defended, treating the watchers to the curious sight of a young woman holding her own against the massive bear. The girl grabbed a paw and fell backward with a heave, throwing the panda into the ground with a mighty crash, smashing a road sign in the process. He looked down with contempt and informed his father, "This whole thing sucks! Picking my fiancée for me, without even asking! I'm leaving."

He turned his back and picked up his pack, preparing to leave as he had said. Genma stood back up, contemplating the turned back. He hefted the sign which had fallen underneath himself, lifted it up and down a couple of times to get a sense of its balance, then whanged his female son heavily across the back of the head. The teenager dropped bonelessly.

* * *

Consciousness returned muzzily. They were lying on their stomach, bouncing around awkwardly. Their head hurt. Gradually they started to take notice of their surroundings. There was a mountain of fur underneath them.

"Hey pop! Lemme down, dammit!"

‹_Ranma!_› Akane screamed. ‹_This is my street! We're almost to my house!_›

"Aw, damn! Pop I need to get down and get into my pack! They can't see me like this!"

His father ignored him completely. Akane screamed again as her front gate came into view. Ranma grabbed desperately for his pack, a strap of it slung across the bear's other shoulder. On the second try, he manage to snag it. To the tune of Akane's mounting cries to hurry, he managed to pull open the top flap, and started rummaging inside. His hand found the thermos just as Akane announced that they were at the gate. Unscrewing wildly, he lifted and poured.

The water shifted both father and son back to their original forms just as they came through the gate. The sudden difference in mass and body size left Genma unbalanced, and they tumbled to the ground in a heap, Ranma on top. As he climbed off of his father, he gave the man a swift kick and complained, "Why wouldn't you listen to me, pop?"

Genma rolled over and climbed to his feet. "You sound like a girl. I wasn't about to give you a chance to run off again." He lifted both packs, so that the boy couldn't grab his own and flee. "Now let's go inside and meet your fiancée."

At that point a tall man wearing a dark brown gi, with long black hair and a mustache, came running out of the house. "Saotome, old friend," he shouted, clasping Genma in a bear hug. Looking to the side, he said, "And this must be your son, Ranma."

Ranma collected himself and bowed, saying, "It is good to meet you, Tendo-san." Inside of his head, Akane had only said the word "daddy" and had then started crying.

"As you can see, we're here to carry out our agreement, Tendo," Genma was saying.

A cloud passed across the other man's face. "Yes, well, there has been a slight complication. Nothing that will prevent the engagement," he hastened to assure his old friend. "But my family has recently experienced a grievous tragedy. So your son has fewer choices for whom he will marry."

"I ain't planning to marry anyone," Ranma answered, practically snarling.

Soun slapped Ranma on the back. "Nonsense, my boy. Now you just come inside and meet my daughters. I assure you that they are most eager to meet you."

Akane sniffled, but said, ‹_He's lying about them being eager to meet you. At least a little. I can always tell when he's lying._›

The three men stepped inside, then walked down the hall to a family room. Kneeling at the side of a low table were two teenage girls, who bore a slight resemblance to the face Ranma saw in his reflection when he was in female form. At the end of the table was a photograph, showing that exact same familiar face. As he looked over the two girls, Akane gasped inside of his head, and it wasn't hard for Ranma to guess why.

One of the girls appeared to be a little older, with long brown hair tied by a ribbon and falling across the front of her right shoulder. Although her eyes were downcast, he could see how red they were, looking as if she had not been sleeping properly. She gave off a sense of fatigue, of someone who has been carrying a burden for too long.

But the real reason for Akane's gasp was the second girl. She also had brown hair, cut much shorter. She was wearing a formal black kimono, and the circles under her eyes were so dark they looked bruised. If the first girl gave off a sense of fatigue, this one seemed barely to be alive. Her eyes were also downcast, and she looked as though she had not slept a wink for weeks.

‹_My God, Nabiki!_› Akane sounded stunned. ‹_I ... I expected everyone to be sad, but ... What happened to her?_›

Soun ushered his two guests over to the table, and pushed them gently down. Ranma studied the photograph again, but said nothing right away. Kneeling himself, Soun announced, "Daughters, this is my old friend Genma Saotome, and his son Ranma. Saotome-san, Ranma-kun, these are my daughters Kasumi, age nineteen, and Nabiki, age seventeen. Ranma-kun, please pick the one you wish to marry."

"Father," the girl identified as Nabiki spoke in a whisper, and even so her voice sounded broken. "We all know that Akane was intended to be your heir. I therefore feel it is my duty to accept this engagement." She glanced up for a moment and tried to give the boy across from her a smile, but didn't even come close to making the expression convincing.

‹_What's happened to her?_› Akane asked inside Ranma's head, sounding ready to fight someone. ‹_Did Kuno hurt her as well, somehow? I'll kill him if he did._›

‹Damn it, we've got too many questions, and I want some answers,› Ranma thought caustically. ‹I'm gonna go ahead and reveal the curse to 'em right now, and then get them to tell us what's been going on.›

Akane told him sharply, ‹_Remember, you're not going to tell them that I'm really here!_›

‹Stop worrying,› Ranma replied, sounding frustrated rather than soothing. After all, they'd discussed this often enough on the way here. ‹I'm just gonna show them I have a curse that makes me look like the girl in the photo. Then I'll ask them to tell me what happened to her. Besides, you know I need to deal with it soon, before I get splashed by accident.›

Akane still wasn't happy about showing her face to her family. Her sisters' obvious grief only cemented her conviction that she had died, and her foremost wish at the moment was to leave as soon as possible without causing them further pain. However, it looked like they couldn't get away immediately, and Akane knew that Ranma was right about the likelihood of some accident. Her family would be even more upset if they saw her suddenly without any preparation.

"Tendo-san," Ranma spoke up. "Before we discuss engagements that ain't gonna happen, could I ask who Akane is? I think that was the name she mentioned." He nodded toward Nabiki. "And I'd also like to know whose photograph that is over there." He pointed at the framed image.

Everyone looked at the photograph. The three members of the Tendo family all looked sad, while Genma suddenly started in recognition. He turned and gave his son a long, puzzled look, then opened his mouth. Ranma reached out and touched his father on the upper lip before the man could speak, saying forcefully, "Hold that thought, pop. I want to hear this first."

Soun started to cry, and told the boy sorrowfully, "As you may have guessed, that is a photograph of my youngest daughter, Akane. There was a terrible tragedy a couple of weeks ago. She ... she ..."

"She was very badly injured in a fight a couple of weeks ago," Kasumi filled in with her soft voice when her father appeared to be unable to continue. "I'm afraid that my little sister is lying in a coma in the hospital. The doctors say that, since she hasn't begun to recover yet, it's likely that she will never wake up."

‹_I'm not dead?!_› Akane's voice sounded like she was going to fall over in a faint, except that Ranma's body wasn't cooperating.

‹Sounds that way,› Ranma told her.

‹_Yeah, but ... if I never wake up, does it really make any difference?_›

‹Dunno,› he told her. ‹But while your body's alive, maybe there's a chance. We can worry about that later. First we need to show them the curse before pop pops off.›

Ranma cleared his throat. "The reason that my pop and I are feeling kind of shocked about that photo, is 'cause of something really strange that happened to us a couple of weeks ago. I guess that would make it just around when your Akane was injured. Could you bring me some water? Both cold water _and_ hot water please?"

Everyone was now staring at him. After several long seconds, Kasumi rose to her feet and left the room. A couple of minutes later she returned with a pitcher and a kettle. She stumbled a little, but Ranma had been watching for the possibility of some accident, and leaped out of the way. Some of the water from the pitcher spilled over his father, transforming him instantly into a giant panda.

The Tendo's exploded away from the table.

Ranma tried to calm them. "That's still my pop. He's been cursed to take the body of a panda bear whenever he gets splashed by cold water. Pop, take out your sign and show them."

The bear gave his son a furious look, but pulled a sign out of nowhere and wrote, "It's really me, Tendo."

Soun looked on, ashen-faced. "How?" was all he managed to choke out.

"If you'll pour some of that hot water on him, he'll change back," Ranma suggested. Kasumi poured, and Genma hastily rearranged his gi around himself. Ranma went on with his explanation. "A couple of weeks ago, pop led me to this valley in western China called Jusenkyo. Lots of pools of water all over the valley floor, and every one of them cursed."

His father growled. "My guidebook said it was a training ground, boy."

Ranma answered acidly, "Yeah, and by now we both know how well you can read Chinese. Anyway, pop got knocked into one of the pools, and came out in a panda's body, with the curse you just saw. Anybody who falls into one of those pools comes out cursed like that. Cold water changes them to a different form; hot water changes 'em back."

He paused, took a deep breath, then went on. "The idiot panda knocked me into one of the pools." His father growled, while everyone else's eyes went wide. Kasumi's mouth opened.

‹_She's gonna say 'oh my,'_› Akane predicted.

"Oh my," Kasumi said. "What type of animal do you change into?"

"Well, that's the thing," Ranma replied, rubbing the back of his head nervously, and fiddling with his pigtail. "The guide said that I fell into the pool they call the 'spring of drowned girl.' Anyone who falls into it takes the form of a girl. And I do. Turn into a girl that is."

He paused again, noticing the skeptical looks despite having seen his father change into a panda a moment ago. "Thing is," Ranma plowed on, "I don't change into just any girl. I don't pretend to understand why, but when I change into a girl, I look just like the girl in that photograph."

"Impossible," Soun Tendo grated.

"I'm afraid it's true," Ranma told him seriously. He picked up the pitcher and lifted it over his head. "Sorry 'bout this," he said, and then poured.

While Soun and his oldest daughter Kasumi both turned white on seeing Akane's face in front of them, Nabiki's eyes rolled up and she fainted. Ranma was just in time to catch her before she hit the floor.

‹_I suppose that went pretty well, all things considered,_› Akane commented. Ranma couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic or not.

Several minutes later, Kasumi was reviving Nabiki while Ranma was saying to the Tendo father, "... I'm telling you, I don't know how, or why, the magic gave me that body. All I know is what I've told you." Genma was sitting back, eating something.

Nabiki took in Ranma's words as she returned to consciousness, her eyelids fluttering open. The magic he had encountered had given Akane's body to him, and there had to be some reason! She tried to jump up from where she was lying, although it turned into more of a controlled stumble. She ended up holding onto Ranma's arm, looking up into his once-more-male eyes in wonder.

"You're coming to the hospital with me," she told him, her voice cracking. "You're coming to the hospital with me right now!"

"Eh, what?" Ranma responded intelligently.

"Nabiki?" Her father's tone suggested that she should explain herself.

"Don't you understand?" Tears started running down her cheeks, and she had to pause to control a sob. "I'm responsible. It's my fault that my little sister is lying there in the hospital. That she won't wake up. Now some kind of magic has made you look like her. It's a sign. It has to be. You're meant to wake her up!"

‹_Nabiki? How is it her fault?_› Akane's voice was puzzled. ‹_It was that idiot Kuno who hit me._›

Ranma shook his head. "I don't understand. What do you expect me to do? I don't know anything about how to wake someone up who's in a coma."

Nabiki started tugging on his arm, trying to get him to move toward the door. "Maybe you don't have to. It's magic, don't you see? You've got to come. Please?" She turned her swimming eyes up to look directly into his. "I'm begging you."

Ranma looked around helplessly. His father was no help, obviously dismissing her as nothing more than an emotionally overwrought girl. Kasumi looked at her father and gave a small nod. The older man sighed, then said, "Very well. We'll go over to the hospital. Are you coming with us, Saotome?"

Genma considered, then said, "Sounds a lot of foolishness to me, Tendo, and I've already walked across most of Tokyo this morning. Take the boy by all means, if you wish. I'll stay here and unpack. Is the guest room still in the same place?" At Soun's nod he hefted both packs and left the room.

Ranma soon found himself walking across Nerima in the company of the two girls and their father. Akane was extremely nervous about the idea of going to see her comatose body, and tried to mask it by keeping up a running commentary to Ranma, pointing out all of the sights as they passed.

It wasn't long before they entered the hospital, and made their way to the ward where Akane was being kept. As they trooped in, Ranma and Akane found themselves looking down on a familiar body, but one that seemed strangely lifeless. There was a massive bruise on her temple, with numerous stitches holding the skin together. The eyes were sunken, and the skin waxy. There was an IV tube running into her arm, and several monitoring devices hooked up to her. Her breathing was regular, and her heartbeat was strong, but she did not stir as the four gathered around her.

Ranma walked up to the bedside, and took a small but calloused hand in his own. The skin was warm, but the fingers did not grip back. Somehow it felt both strong and fragile at the same time.

Ranma sighed, and looked at Nabiki sympathetically. "I guess ... just being here isn't enough. I'm sorry, but I don't know what I should do."

Nabiki was chewing her lip, thinking hard. Her convictions had carried her this far, but now she felt unsure. Minutes passed, while everyone stood and stared down at the poor girl lying in the bed, unmoving.

The silence was broken when Nabiki suddenly said, "You kiss her."

Ranma's response was a panic-stricken recoil across the room. His attempted shout of "What?!" came out in a shocked squeak.

Nabiki looked at him and said firmly, "It's magic, right? In all of the stories about magic, where the princess is cursed to sleep, she wakes up when the prince she is destined to marry kisses her. Your father brought you here to marry one of us ..."

"But ..." Ranma started to protest.

"Shut up," she told him, showing for the first time a little of the personality her family expected from the middle of the three sisters. "Your father brought you here to marry one of us, to carry on the dojo. Akane is the same age as you, and she's the one who's always been most interested in martial arts. Hell, up until she was injured, since daddy had never told us about this arranged marriage, we assumed she was the one who would get the dojo one day. If this hadn't happened, the two of you would be engaged."

"But ..." he tried again.

"Shut up I said. She's the princess, our daddy's heir. You're the prince, the one who is supposed to marry her. Magic is clearly involved. You're going to kiss her, and you're going to wake my little sister up, or else. Do you understand?"

‹Akane?› Ranma asked plaintively.

Inside of him, Akane was struggling not to give in to anger. Part of her wanted to explode and yell at Ranma for getting into this situation where he was expected to kiss her, and a couple of weeks ago she was sure that she would have done precisely that. Now, however, she thought about the boy she had come to know so closely over the last couple of weeks. The boy she had come to think of as a friend. The boy who was so far from being a pervert that it had been a struggle to talk him into touching his own female body. She gritted mental teeth as it occurred to her that he was also the boy who, if she did wake up, everyone was going to think she was destined to marry. She let out a sigh. Living again would be worth it, right? Assuming it worked.

‹_Ranma, it's okay,_› she told him. ‹_I can't say I'm happy about getting my first kiss like this, but I know you're not doing it for any perverted reason. And if it works, well, it would be nice to be back in my own body again. You probably wouldn't mind being alone in your own head again, either._›

Everyone else watched, waiting, as Ranma seemed to have a brief internal debate with himself. Then he gave a nod. Looking around at Akane's family, he realized he couldn't possibly bring himself to kiss her while they stared at him expectantly. To cover up, he said, "Uh, if this works, she's going to wake up to find a guy kissing her. That's probably bad enough, but it'll be worse if all of her family are standing around staring."

Kasumi nodded her agreement. She pushed her father and Nabiki a short distance away, then took hold of a curtain and pulled it around the bed, leaving Ranma alone with Akane's real body. The boy looked down at the girl very nervously.

Akane's voice came with a note of asperity. ‹_Try to relax, Ranma. I won't bite you. At the moment, I can't do anything to you._›

Ranma shook himself, then started to bend over. He straightened up again. ‹You know, if this is about magic, then it's my cursed form that looks like you. Maybe I should change first, then kiss you.›

Akane said ‹_baka_› without any emotion, then went on. ‹_Tell you what. Why don't we try it this way first, since I'd really prefer that my first kiss was with a guy rather than a girl. If it doesn't work, then we can try it the other way._›

Ranma leaned forward again, but then stopped halfway. He was staring at the girl's lips, realizing that this was it, he was really about to kiss a girl for the first time. At least, if he didn't pass out first. He leaned forward ever so slowly, his lips touching hers almost imperceptibly, then drew back hurriedly.

"What's taking so long in there?" Nabiki called.

‹_Ranma!_› Akane growled, and he got a distinct impression that she was trying to tap a foot. ‹_If this works at all, it will be because it's all about magic, right?_›

‹Uh, right?›

‹_So, I expect the magic requires a real kiss. What's the matter with you anyway? I've given you permission. So kiss me for real, already!_›

Ranma swallowed hard, then leaned down again. This time he didn't give himself time to think, but pressed his lips firmly against the girl's. They yielded slightly, but felt warm and firm against his, and the thought ran in circles through his head that he was actually kissing a girl. He felt a sensation like a breeze inside his head, or at least that was the best way he could describe it. It mounted quickly to a strong wind, and it felt like it was blowing through his head and down into the body of the girl below him.

Akane, experiencing everything that Ranma did, had felt their lips pressing against her own body below them. After a moment, she started to feel like she was being lifted off of her feet and was twisting around. She realized after a startled moment that she was now in control of those lips, and pressed against the other lips even more firmly, trying to make the magic work. It was several moments before she realized that the other lips were actively pressing against hers, that she was facing upward, not down, and that there was a firm pressure all along her back. She also realized that with the exception of the fire running into her body from her lips, that she didn't really feel all that great.

Ranma slowly realized that the lips of the girl below him were moving against his of their own will. He drew back hurriedly and stared. ‹Akane?› he whispered mentally. There was no answer. The eyelids of the girl on the bed fluttered open. This time Ranma whispered out loud, "Akane?"

She nodded, and tried to lick her dry lips, but had no saliva with which to do any good. She mouthed the word water, and he nodded, saying, "I'll get you something, just a sec."

He then yanked the curtain back, and exclaimed, as quietly as he could since it _was_ a hospital. "She woke up! She really did! She's awake now!"

Ranma realized that one of the monitor's was making a new sound, and stepped away from the bed to look for a doctor or nurse. Akane's father and sisters had swarmed around her bed, all three of them crying in happiness, and touching her to reassure themselves that she really was back. Akane was trying to smile at them.

Nabiki spun back around and grabbed Ranma in a hug, crying happily, saying, "You did it! You did it!" She suddenly put her hands on both sides of his face and kissed him soundly on the lips. Ranma froze as he received his second kiss from a girl mere seconds after the first one. Nabiki released him almost immediately and turned back toward Akane's bed.

A nurse came hurrying up, took one look, and said, "I'll go get a doctor." She turned and left as quickly as she had arrived.

Ranma managed to get his brain working and looked around for some water, but saw nothing. A couple of minutes later, the nurse returned with a harried looking doctor. As he stepped up to the bedside, Ranma stopped the nurse and explained that Akane wanted some water. The nurse took a look at the girl, nodded, and walked off again.

Ranma stepped closer to the bed, and Akane's eyes locked onto him, their expression unreadable. It felt so strange not to have her inside of his head anymore, and he suspected that she was feeling equally strange to be back in her own body again. He also realized at that moment that her body had seen little use in the last couple of weeks, and she was probably going to need some time to recover. Ranma tried to imagine himself unable to move, to run, to fight. He suppressed a shudder.

The nurse returned and held a covered cup with a straw up to Akane's lips. She managed to suck some of the liquid in, but then lay back looking fatigued. The doctor turned to the family and said, "It's an amazing recovery, I can scarcely believe it. I need to examine her now, and then we'll move her to a semiprivate room. You can come and see her again then. It will probably be a little more than half an hour."

Both of her sisters and her father stepped up and kissed Akane on the forehead before turning and walking toward the door. As Ranma turned away, he heard a whispered call, "Ranma?"

He turned and walked back, with a questioning look on his face. He leaned down so that he could hear her easily without the girl needing to try to raise her voice. Akane's lips curved into a smile, and she whispered, "Thank you."

Ranma reached down and gripped her fingers, squeezing gently. "You're welcome," he told her.

The next words were soft, but were accompanied by a glitter in her eyes. "I'm still not planning to marry you, you know."

Ranma smiled at her, while the doctor and nurse looked on, puzzled. "I know. No more talking now." He turned and headed off in the direction her family had taken.

* * *

It was an hour later, and the four of them were gathered around Akane's bed again, but this time in a smaller room with far fewer instruments. The other bed in the room was currently unoccupied.

After the obligatory remarks from everyone about how good it was to see her awake again, Akane turned to look in Ranma's direction, and cocked an eyebrow. She asked, "So who's this oaf here, anyway? I could swear that I woke up from a dream in which he was kissing me. At least it better have been a dream, or as soon as I'm stronger, I'm going to break every bone in his body."

Ranma suddenly felt nervous, wondering whether she remembered the previous two weeks or not. Then he remembered her comments upstairs after she awoke and felt reassured. Well, a little reassured anyway. Just a bit.

Soun was starting to weep. "His name is Ranma Saotome, and he is your fiancé. The two of you are to be engaged, and one day soon you will marry, and then the Tendo and Saotome schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts will be united!"

Akane gave Ranma a long look, then sighed and looked away again. "Don't hold your breath, daddy. But we can argue about it later. I don't feel up to arguments right now."

Nabiki was looking back and forth between Ranma and her sister with a strange look on her face. There was a mischievous gleam in that look, but also more than a touch of awe. She told Akane, "As for the kissing, that wasn't a dream little sister. There was some magic involved, and we decided that a kiss might do the trick and wake you up. And before you decide to pound him for it, please try to keep in mind that it worked."

Akane turned toward Ranma again, and gave him an evil look, but the boy could almost have sworn that he saw something playful in it as well. "Okay, that's something else that we will ... _discuss_ ... at length, once I'm feeling stronger. What do you mean there was magic involved?"

Kasumi answered her. "Ranma and his father received a curse when they were in China. It sounds like it may have happened at the same time that you were hurt. When Ranma is splashed with cold water, he becomes a girl, and looks like your identical twin. Because of the resemblance, we thought that maybe the magic of the curse intended for him to somehow be the one to wake you from your coma."

Akane had turned toward Kasumi as she spoke, but now turned in Ranma's direction again, and this time he couldn't mistake the wicked look in her eye. "You do realize that I can't possibly believe that unless I see it? You said cold water causes the change?"

Ranma frowned at her, letting a slight growl escape. However, Soun decided that his youngest daughter really should see this. He picked up the water pitcher on the nearby table, and proceeded to dump the contents over Ranma's head.

The boy yelped at the sudden cold, wet assault, his voice shifting from baritone to tenor midway through. Unfortunately, the Tendo father had not taken the time to be careful, and a considerable amount of the water fell on Akane as well. Her matching yelp shifted from tenor to baritone at the midway point. Ranma, in the process of rounding on Soun Tendo with an imminent explosion on his lips, stopped partway around staring down at the bed.

At himself.

Everyone else was staring as well, and the room had gone very quiet. Akane lifted her hands in front of her face, noting that they looked larger now. They were hands with which she had gained a measure of familiarity in the last couple of weeks. She lowered them to her chest, confirming that the small mounds of flesh were no longer present, only hard muscle. Looking up into her own worried, female face hovering over her, Akane asked in a trembling voice, "Do I look like who I think I look like right now?"

"That depends, sis," Nabiki said softly. "If you think you look like Ranma right now, then you're right." Ranma just nodded.

"Oh my!" Akane started to giggle as she realized she had managed to duplicate her oldest sister's intonations exactly. The giggling rapidly got out of control. Ranma reached down and took hold of Akane's hand, squeezing gently. She looked up at Ranma when she felt his touch, eyes begging to be told that there was some mistake. She saw sympathy in his eyes, together with an understanding of exactly how she felt at this moment. The giggling stopped, but then Akane started crying instead, which was a rather disturbing image for Ranma as she currently looked just like himself. Or rather, didn't, since he currently looked just like her. Or something. It felt like his head was spinning.

Kasumi leaned over and embraced her sister, trying to comfort her. Eventually the tears subsided, and Akane whispered, "Thanks, Kasumi." She wanted to ask Ranma if he had any clue as to why this had happened, but knew that he would have no better guess than herself. Besides, whatever the reason might be, it was likely to have something to do with the two weeks she had spent inside his body after he was cursed, or maybe just the fact that she was there _when_ he was cursed. She still didn't want her family to know about that.

Nabiki looked curiously at the figure of her younger sister standing beside her. "You know, Ranma-kun, I think I would very much appreciate it if you never kiss me."

Ranma stared at her, not understanding at first, but then grimaced as her meaning sank in. "My curse ain't some kinda contagious disease! You were the one who wanted me to wake her up by magic! Well, you got your wish, but the magic must of brought the curse with it."

Nabiki tilted her head to one side, then relented. "Maybe. I hope so, anyway, for your sake. And my sister's."

Kasumi gave the elder of her younger sisters a strange look. "Nabiki, didn't I already see you kiss Ranma? A little while ago? Right after Akane woke up?"

Nabiki's face paled as if she'd seen a ghost, and a slight whimper escaped her lips. Moving very slowly she stepped into the adjoining restroom and filled a cup with cold water. Staring into the mirror above the sink, her movements growing ever slower, Nabiki lifted the cup above her head and poured. The young woman nearly melted in relief to see that she was still a young woman, still herself. She came back out into the room with her pulse gradually slowing once more and in a strained voice said, "Looks like you were right, Ranma-kun. I guess you're not contagious." She added in a whisper, "Thank God!"

Meanwhile, Akane had regained a tentative emotional balance. As Kasumi stood back up from where she had been hugging her, the younger girl looked at the surrounding faces and inquired sadly, "I don't suppose that anyone has some hot water available to change me back?" She wondered why Ranma suddenly squinted his eyes closed.

Nabiki answered that when she asked, "Uh, sis? How'd you know about changing back with hot water?"

Akane looked startled, then suggested, "Didn't somebody mention it when you were explaining about Ranma's curse?"

Nabiki just shook her head from side to side.

Akane closed her eyes. "I don't know then. If nobody mentioned it around me, then I've got no idea how I knew about it. Maybe my subconscious was just making an educated guess when you told me that cold water was what changed him."

Nabiki considered this, then nodded. "Could be at that."

Akane tried not to look too relieved when Nabiki accepted this. Ranma had slipped into the restroom during the exchange between the two sisters, and now emerged as a boy once more, holding a cup of hot water and a towel. He handed the cup to Kasumi, then gently raised Akane's head and spread the towel on the pillow below her. The sheets and her gown were already wet from her father's accident, but he figured there was no sense in making things worse. When these preparations were complete, Kasumi gently poured the water onto Akane's head until her form suddenly shifted back to female. She then took the towel back out, and used it to dry her sister.

Akane opened her eyes again, noting thankfully the return of her female attributes. In a tired voice full of pain, perhaps speaking only to herself, she remarked, "So. Now I've got some sort of weird curse that turns me into a boy." Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "Don't stories about magic usually say that there's a price to be paid? Is this the price I have to pay for magic giving me my life back? I ... think that's something else I want to wait to think about. I can't face it right now."

Akane took a deep breath and released it slowly. Her voice grew stronger again, as she determinedly changed the subject. "Right now, I'd like to know what's been going on."

"What do you mean, Akane?" Kasumi asked.

The girl on the bed looked up at her and said, "I know I'm pretty tired. In a few minutes a doctor is probably going to come in and say I have to rest. But before you leave, I'd like to know what's been happening since, well, since I was hurt. Otherwise it's going to be nagging at me, and I won't be able to get any rest."

Her eyes looked off into the distance. "I remember slipping and seeing Kuno's bokken about to hit me in the head. What happened after that?" Her eyes refocused on the middle sister. "Why do you look so terrible Nabiki? I mean, I understand you'd be upset about what happened, or hope you would, but isn't this ...," she waved her hand around vaguely in Nabiki's direction, "... a little excessive?"

Kasumi looked at Nabiki as well. "As you witnessed the fight, little sister, it would perhaps be best if you were to answer that. And for other reasons as well."

Nabiki chewed on her lower lip, but nodded and took a deep breath. She found that she was unable to look Akane in the eye as she started speaking. She began slowly, "Well, I was watching your morning battle from the second floor window as usual ..." Her voice choked a little on the next words. "Taking bets as usual. I saw you slip and go down, and Kuno's blow hit you in the head. I didn't realize how hard he'd hit you, except ... he didn't start dancing in celebration. Instead he knelt down beside you, and he didn't look happy. Then I saw ... I saw a red pool spreading on the ground, where your head lay.

"I don't remember how I got down there. Maybe I teleported. I don't know. I called for an ambulance before I realized I had my cell phone in my hand. When I reached you, um, ..." Nabiki paused, her hands twisting over each other, looking extremely embarrassed. "I'm not sure where the mallet came from, but they told me afterward that Kuno flew at least twenty meters when I hit him."

"Good for you," Akane proclaimed softly.

Nabiki hesitated, remembering. "I didn't know what to do. I remember checking your pulse. I was so glad when I found it! You were still bleeding." She shook her head. "So much blood! I know that scalp wounds bleed a lot, but ... knowing isn't the same as seeing. I was so scared. I stayed at your side until the paramedics arrived. I only left because they pushed me out of the way. Even then, I didn't go very far. I stayed nearby while they worked, until they took you away. I wanted to go with you, but they wouldn't let me."

Nabiki's eyes still seemed to be focused on events from another day, rather than anything in the room. "The police arrived before they even put you on the ambulance, they were all over the place. A little later, people started showing up from the Board of Education. The police took Kuno off in handcuffs." She paused, remembering the scene. "He wasn't protesting. He looked dazed, like he was unaware of his surroundings."

"They arrested him?" Akane asked, startled. Her expression brightened at this unexpected boon. "Good!" she snapped vindictively.

Nabiki's eyes refocused on the room, and looked down at her sister in the hospital bed. "Kuno's still in jail at the moment, but from what I've heard, it's not certain that he'll stand trial. There's talk of him having a psychiatric evaluation first. As for everyone else ...

"They agreed to a plea bargain for the other boys who attacked you every morning. They were suspended from school for a week, they'll be serving detention until the end of term, and they'll be on probation for the next two years. Any assault on anybody during that time and they go to jail.

"The school's vice principal has been fired for failing to notify the school board that the principal has been absent from his office for the last three years, not to mention allowing the morning fights to continue. It turns out that the principal is Kuno's father, and the rumor is that he's been in Hawaii all this time. Anyway, he's been fired too, and an arrest warrant has been issued for him in case he should return, on the basis of child abandonment."

Nabiki gave a bit of a smile. "Kuno has a sister, same age as you, name of Kodachi. She was attending St. Hebereke. After finding out her father was gone, and that her mother died years ago, social services was about to step in. But the extended Kuno family dealt with it first. She's moved in with an aunt and uncle down in Osaka, and my sources tell me she's attending an even more prestigious and exclusive school there. I've also heard that the other students at St. Hebereke breathed a sigh of relief at her departure. Apparently she was as nutty, in her own way, as her brother."

"That's a little hard to believe," Akane commented bitterly.

Nabiki shrugged. "Anyway, the school board has sent a new principal and vice principal, who took over this week. They're a bit ... more strict ... than the old administration. I got called into his office a few days ago to be informed that my various little enterprises were to be shut down."

Akane smirked. "I suppose I should attempt to express some sympathy about that."

Tears started sliding down Nabiki's cheeks again, and she looked down at her feet, shaking her head. "No," she said quietly. "I told him that I'd already shut everything down. That first night, when we visited you in the hospital, and the doctor told us you were in a coma and ..." Her voice choked, and it took her a moment to get it under control again. "... and might never wake up again, I went a little crazy. I stepped out of the room, not really seeing anything. I found a knife somewhere, and tried to slit my wrist."

Nabiki held out her arm, and pushed the kimono sleeve up a little, showing some stitches of her own. "Somebody saw what I was doing and stopped me, then called for help. I spent the night here myself, in restraints. They let me go the next day, once they were sure I wouldn't try it again."

"But why?" Akane asked. She sounded extremely confused.

Nabiki still wasn't looking at her. "Because it was all my fault! I'd been selling photographs of you to the boys. Especially Kuno. They weren't ... perverted, just action shots of you in the dojo. But I knew the boys were obsessing over them, making them even more determined to beat you in the morning fights. Gods, I was even _happy_ about that. I was making a lot of money from both the photos and the bets."

She paused in her recitation to sniff hard, before continuing. "I thought you'd been _killed_! Or the next thing to it anyway. And all because of my _scheming_. All to make some _money_. I had sacrificed my baby sister for a _profit_. I wanted to die myself. I was praying for someone to take my life, and give you back yours. I came back to my senses a bit by the next morning, but I swore a vow that I'd never put money ahead of my family again. It seemed like it was too late, though. ... Two weeks, with no sign that you were ever going to recover."

Nabiki finally looked up again, her eyes swimming. "Then Ranma here showed up today, with some kind of magic that made him look like you. I was convinced that I was being given another chance, that _you_ were being given a chance to live again. So we dragged him here, and ... and ... you came back ..." She broke down completely, sobbing, and threw her arms around Akane. The younger sister patted her on the back awkwardly, looking up to Kasumi for guidance, but the latter just gave a small smile.

Akane swallowed a lump in her own throat, completely unaccustomed to such displays from Nabiki. "It's okay, sis, I forgive you. I _am_ annoyed to find out you were doing that, and it might have been unhealthy for you if I'd learned about it a few weeks ago. But you couldn't have foreseen this. Let's ... forget the past, okay?"

Nabiki stood back up, sniffling, and nodded. Kasumi smiled and then said, "Now I think what Akane said earlier about needing to rest was wise. We should all go away and let you sleep, little sister, but we'll return for another visit later. Before you know it, you'll be back home with us, and going to school with all of your friends again."

"And you can get to know your fiancé," their father said happily. Then he wilted under the combined glares from Akane and Ranma, as well as the milder frowns of his other two daughters. He and Ranma left the room first, then Kasumi and Nabiki each gave Akane another hug and followed the men out.

Alone in her hospital room, Akane reflected on all of the trouble she'd been sharing with Ranma over the last couple of weeks as he tried to cope with his curse. She wept over the fact that despite her life being given back to her, she would still have to live with the curse. A memory suddenly popped into Akane's head. Back in China, Ranma asking her how she would like to be in his place, knowing that she'd be spending the rest of her life shifting back and forth between a girl's body and a boy's. Her answer that she'd just have to get on with her life and make the best of it now seemed far too lacking in sympathy.

Akane's tears gradually slowed, and she tried to stop dwelling on the curse for the time being. After all, there were a couple of good things to think about, right? She was _alive_, actually alive! After spending two weeks thinking that she was dead. It was a _wonderful_ feeling. Then there was the fact that she had Nabiki instead of the Ice Queen as her sister again, and wasn't that going to take some getting used to? Contemplating these gains, Akane tried to decide whether she felt that the price had been too high. Eventually she drifted into a troubled sleep.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Akane comes home from the hospital in Chapter 5, "Together Under One Roof."

Let's all have a round of applause for my lovely pre-reader (to whom I happen to be married), whose efforts help to considerably improve the quality of my stories.

I have changed the working title for the sequel. It used to be _Beyond Togetherness_. Now it is _Side by Side_. Of course, it's possible it might change again before I start posting. There will probably be a significant length of time between when I complete _Togetherness_ and when I post the first chapter of the sequel.

In case you haven't noticed before, I'd like to point out that most of my replies to readers' reviews may be read on my web site. Just go to my fan fiction page and click on "Reviews" for the appropriate story. These pages are usually updated within a week or so of when the review is first received.

Finally, I'd like to note the addition of _The Silent Horse_ to the queue of upcoming stories. Once posted, it will be my longest story to date, approximately fifty percent longer than _Sendai_. For the list of upcoming stories, see my profile page, or the Planned Stories chart on my web site.


	5. Together Under One Roof

**Togetherness  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.

* * *

**Chapter 5. Together Under One Roof**

When Akane's family visited her again that evening, Ranma remained behind. He was reluctant to intrude on the family reunion in spite of both fathers trying to persuade him otherwise. Their argument that he was the girl's fiancé and therefore ought to be there only strengthened his resolve. Eventually the two sisters and their father left without him.

Genma immediately went out for a drink. Ranma decided to familiarize himself with his new surroundings, starting with the guest room in which he and his father would be staying. He found that the old man had already unpacked for both of them, so he took a few minutes to check that everything was still there. After reassuring himself on that point, the boy continued on through the rest of the house.

He did not venture inside any of the bedrooms, but only took a quick peek through the open doors, identifying the rooms by the nameplate on each door. The bedrooms on the second floor, aside from the guest room, all belonged to the Tendo daughters. Back downstairs, Ranma spent some time checking out the contents of the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator, before heading outside.

He looked with approval on the dojo, and experimented inside by doing a few kata. All in all, a very nice place. In fact, a place he wouldn't mind staying for a while, if it weren't for the price he was expected to pay. Just where did his pop get off thinking that he could tell Ranma who to marry?

His inspection over, Ranma climbed onto the roof of the house, where he watched the colors of the sunset spreading across the sky. He caught himself about to make a mental comment to Akane about the view, and sighed. It still felt rather strange not to have her present as a constant, if unseen, companion. He gave another sigh at the thought of how the two fathers wanted to make them constant companions of a very different sort.

Why were they so insistent on it? Couldn't they just be happy that she was back, and leave things at that? Ranma tried to determine how he felt about the idea of being engaged to Akane, the way their fathers wanted. He certainly didn't feel ready to be engaged to anyone, but no one seemed to care about his opinion.

The two of them had gotten to know one another pretty well over the past couple of weeks, what with internal conversations, sharing dreams, and experiencing every waking moment together. He had come to think of her as a friend. He'd never had a female friend before. Come to that, he hadn't had too many friends at all before. He and his father had moved around too much.

She did have a short temper, and she was pretty quick to accuse him of behaving stupidly (though not always without some justification, Ranma admitted grudgingly). Akane seemed at times to be just as impulsive as himself. Additionally, her opinion of males was so low as to barely acknowledge their humanity. On the other hand, their days together seemed to improve her opinion of him, personally.

No, he wasn't ready to be engaged yet, but no doubt someday he would marry. What sort of girl would he want? Cute. Okay, maybe that was shallow of him but it was unrealistic to think it didn't matter to him.

Akane was definitely cute.

Any girl who hung around him for long would have to be very interested in martial arts.

Akane was a martial artist, and possibly a fairly good one, from what little he'd been able to tell so far.

Ranma knew that he didn't always make the best choices for himself, so it would be good if he were to end up with someone who was ready to set him straight when he needed it.

Akane was obviously more than willing to do that. ‹A bit excessively,› he thought to himself with a smile.

Did he want to be engaged to Akane? No. Every time he came back to that thought, it was answered the same way, he wasn't ready for something like that. Unfortunately, it looked like his pop and Akane's dad weren't planning to give them any choice in the matter. He considered running off again, as he had started to do when his pop first told him, but that impulsive idea was looking more and more unpalatable. He was only sixteen; trying to live on his own would be extremely difficult, and he would likely be forced to give up his martial arts to manage it.

Then there were the curses. What girl in her right mind would want to be engaged to a guy who changed into a girl with a drop of water? Of course, Akane was the one person who would be able to truly understand what it was like, first after having lived through it with him for two weeks, and now being stuck with the same curse herself. Well, the same curse in reverse, as it were.

For that matter, there probably wouldn't be too many guys who would want to hook up with her, once they found out about her curse. Ranma tried to think how he would feel about Akane's curse, if she and he actually did become a couple. His imagination failed him at that point.

Ranma jumped down into the yard, then walked into the dojo. He decided to drive these concerns out of his mind temporarily with a hard workout. The young martial artist began the motions of a complex kata.

* * *

Over at the hospital, Akane's family had finally left, and she was alone, settled in for the night. She wasn't sleepy yet, which was a good thing as she had an awful lot to think about. That she was alive, against all expectations. The curse. The change in Nabiki. Her father trying to force her into an engagement with Ranma. The changes at school.

Okay, start simply. The changes at school. No more Kuno. The hentai horde disbanded, unless they wanted to go to jail. Effective administrators. All of that sounded good, and there wasn't really anything for her to do except to enjoy it, once she was out of here and back in school.

She was alive after all. Her mouth curved into a smile and her eyes glistened moistly. She had spent two weeks convinced that she was dead and would never be reunited with her family, and now all of that was proven false. There was a huge joy in finding herself alive again, and she was determined to try to live her life more fully from this point on.

The curse. Her smile disappeared at the thought. She had the same curse as Ranma, albeit in reverse. She looked like his identical twin in her cursed form, just as he looked like her in his. Akane sighed heavily. She could foresee numerous embarrassing incidents looming in the future, arising from people mixing up the two of them. Then she grinned evilly. In fact, it might be fun to generate a few such incidents on purpose.

To say that she was unhappy about having such a curse was a gross understatement. At least, the two weeks she had spent with Ranma as he tried to learn to live with his curse meant that she wasn't completely unprepared. She recalled once again her statement that she would have no choice but to live with it if she had such a curse. Unfortunately, that was no more than the simple truth. One way or another, she would have to manage.

Now how about the changes in Nabiki? Akane shook her head over how her own sister had callously contributed to the problems in her life, nearly leading to her death. But the consequences of her actions had clearly been devastating for Nabiki, who seemed determined to change her behavior. Akane reflected that she and her middle sister had always had more rivalry than either had with Kasumi, but it looked possible that the two of them might be able to get along much better in the future. Of course, there was still the possibility that Nabiki might revert to her old ways. Akane decided to take each day as it came, and hope for the best.

Finally, and very tentatively, Akane pulled out the notion of being engaged to Ranma and examined it. Unbeknownst to Akane, that selfsame boy was, at that very moment, engaged in a similar examination of the same idea.

Akane started with the fact that she very strongly didn't want to be engaged to _anyone_ at this point. Her opinion of boys was still extremely low. But at least Ranma wasn't a pervert, or as big a jerk as most boys. In fact, while still trapped in his head, she had even told him she had come to think of him as a friend. It had been a major shock to her that she could so regard any boy her age. But he was just a friend, right? Nothing more? Akane considered for a moment what she felt for Doctor Tofu, despite the man's obsession with her sister Kasumi, then angrily pushed the thought aside.

No, Akane didn't want to be engaged to anyone, yet her father seemed determined to push her into it. She would continue trying to talk him out of it, but what if he wouldn't listen? She shook her head at the thought of leaving her family, her home; there was no way that she could do that.

Akane had occasionally dreamed about some man coming along, sweeping her off of her feet, and the two of them living happily ever after. But she had never given it serious thought before, not really. Now, with an engagement being pressed upon her, perhaps she should think about what she _did_ want. At the least, it might help her to organize her arguments against her father.

All right, first thing, he would have to be a martial artist, a good one, at least as good as herself. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to respect him.

Ranma was the first guy Akane had ever met who was unquestionably a better martial artist than herself.

Shaking this thought off, she returned to her considerations. Although it wasn't required, it would be nice if the man she married was good-looking.

Akane sighed, thinking about how her friends were going to react on meeting Ranma. All of them would be drooling rivers.

Telling herself to focus, Akane tried to imagine herself as a wife and mother, in the far distant future of course. A loving husband. Well-behaved children. Cooking the meals. Keeping the house clean and tidy. In short, living a peaceful and serene life.

She snorted quietly. Who was she kidding? She knew well enough that she had a temper. She'd always had one, although it did become much worse after the horde began attacking her. Any guy who married her couldn't be someone who would shrink from a good argument.

There had been a few incidents involving hot words between her and Ranma during the previous two weeks. He was certainly more than willing to argue with her.

Akane began to feel a little worried about the points she was making to herself. Was she _really_ willing to consider an engagement with Ranma?

No. At the very least they were too young, not ready for something like that. And most definitely _Ranma_ was too young and unready for marriage. He was barely civilized. It might not be his fault, given how he'd been raised on the road by a man who was lacking more than a few social graces himself, but that didn't change the fact. Ranma was arrogant, impulsive, inclined to making stupid decisions. Akane thought a little guiltily about her own hot temper and tendency to impulsiveness. Okay, so they _both_ had some growing up to do. All the more reason not to get engaged.

Even more reluctantly, Akane considered their curses. She tried to imagine herself in the company of a boy who changed into a girl. She shuddered as she thought of the rumors which would circulate. Then she thought about her own curse, and sadly wondered whether any man would ever be able to bring himself to accept her, curse and all. Ranma, at least, would understand, all too well. But how did she feel about his own curse? She tried to imagine them being engaged, what it would be like, given that he turned into a copy of herself. She clenched her fists, not sure herself exactly what she felt about it all.

Both Akane and Ranma slept fitfully that night, plagued by dreams of weird weddings, where Ranma as a female was wearing a white gown in the western style, and Akane as a male was wearing a tuxedo.

* * *

The next day began early for Ranma, with the sun barely showing over the horizon. Genma grabbed his sleeping son and tossed him through a window. Ranma landed in the koi pond, where he promptly changed into Akane's twin. Even before he resurfaced, Genma leapt out of the window, following him down, and the morning sparring match entered full swing. At one point, Ranma knocked his father into the pond as well, transforming him into a panda bear, but that didn't stop them, or even slow them down. They continued fighting until Kasumi called them in for breakfast.

Nabiki and Soun were already at the table, Soun hidden behind a newspaper while Nabiki looked bleary-eyed at their two guests. In an acid voice, she remarked to the room at large, "I hope this isn't going to be a daily occurrence. Last night was the first good night's sleep I've had since ... it happened. Too bad it was interrupted at dawn by the sound of someone destroying our yard."

"The boy needs his practice," the panda's sign read, as he began shoveling food into his mouth. To his mind, that was one of the benefits of his curse, the ability to 'talk' and eat at the same time. As Ranma began eating, the two elder Tendo sisters struggled with the appearance that the youngest sister had joined them once more. It was all the more disturbing after Ranma and his father began fighting over their breakfast, trying to steal each other's food.

Nabiki decided to try ignoring the sight, at least for the moment. She was dressed in her school uniform, ready to go, and as she stood up she announced, "I'm leaving for school now. I'll be going by the office today to see about getting you registered for classes, Ranma. Daddy says that you'll be attending the same school as Akane and myself, Furinkan High School."

Ranma looked at the panda in confusion, and inquired, "I'm going back to school?"

The panda quickly wrote, and held up its sign. "Yes. We're staying, so you're going to school here."

Ranma was still confused. "Why? You never thought much of school before."

The panda reached over and smacked him with a paw. Soun spoke up from behind his newspaper. "You're going to marry my daughter and run the dojo. You need an education."

Ranma sighed, but decided not to argue about it for the moment. Nabiki picked up a school bag and walked out of the door. Ranma reflected that she really did look a lot better this morning. Once he finished his breakfast, Ranma headed for the furoba so that he could wash off after his morning's exertions and change back to male form.

After that, and after Genma had also reverted to human form, Ranma found himself cornered alone by both his father and Soun Tendo. The two men proceeded to harass him about the engagement and the need to unite the schools. They told him more of the details about the agreement between the two families. Ranma didn't mean to start shouting. He didn't want to be too discourteous to his host Mr. Tendo, but he was nonetheless quite hot under the collar by the time they were done. Also by that time, he was feeling considerably more trapped than before. It felt like they were trying to tie him down with ropes of honor.

Kasumi left the house a little while later, heading to the market and saying that she would be back in an hour or two. The two fathers settled down to a shogi game. After several minutes of observation it became apparent that the object was more about which of them was the better at cheating. Feeling restless, Ranma announced that he was going out for a walk, to have a look around Nerima. Genma simply waved his hand in response.

He did not do as he said, but instead headed straight over to the hospital. He had become accustomed to talking with Akane all day long over the two weeks she was stuck inside of his head, and he found that he missed talking with her. Not that he put it that way to himself.

He had no trouble finding his way to the hospital, and went straight up to Akane's room without stopping at the front desk. Ranma hesitated at the door, wondering whether she would want to see him, or what they would talk about if he did go in. Then he berated himself. He'd managed to talk to her all through those two weeks, right? How much harder could it be now? He lifted his hand and knocked.

A soft voice from inside called out, "Come in." Feeling very nervous, Ranma swung the door open and stepped inside.

Akane looked rather startled to see Ranma walking through her door, and she sounded slightly worried as she said, "Ranma?" She had expected him to accompany her family when they visited last night, though she refused to acknowledge even to herself that she had felt disappointed when he had not. Now he was here by himself.

"Hi ... umm ... Akane," he started. "I ... ahh ... just thought maybe I could come over and we could, you know, talk. I suppose - well, this sounds stupid, but - I've got kind of used to hearing your voice. Besides, I figure, who else can we really talk with about, well, you know, what happened in China? And I thought, you see, that if I came over now, then we wouldn't have to worry about watching our words since no one else is around to hear."

Akane nodded. All of that made sense to her, and she was relieved to be given a reason why she didn't feel like objecting to his coming over by himself. In fact, she was surprised at how good it felt to hear his voice again. She motioned over to the chair and said, "Please have a seat."

After sitting down, Ranma looked around the room as an alternative to looking directly at her. "I see you still have the room to yourself," he commented, as he looked at the empty bed.

"Yeah, I suppose it's a little hard to find people who are willing to put up with my sharp tongue," she replied a little wistfully. Akane had been thinking earlier that it was a bit lonely lying here with no one to talk to.

"Aww, it's not that bad." Ranma turned to look at her. Her temple was as much of a mess as before, but her color and eyes were looking good. "You look a lot better than you did yesterday. What have the doctors told you?"

Akane smiled, and Ranma sucked in his breath. For the first time he dimly understood why a schoolful of boys had been willing to fight over her. For himself, he wanted to see her go on smiling like that.

"The doctor who came by this morning told me he can't believe how quickly I'm getting better. They're going to keep me at least another night for observation, but he said that if I continue to improve at this rate, they'll probably release me tomorrow morning."

"Hey, that's good news." Ranma smiled at her, but then the smile drooped a little. "Or at least it would be, if those two old men would stop going on and on about this stupid engagement business. They were bending my ear big time about it this morning, until I was ready to smash something."

Akane giggled. "That's not saying much," she teased. "You're always ready to hit something."

"Oh yeah? Well, just you wait. After you come home, they'll probably gang up on you, too."

"Oh." Akane's smile disappeared. She looked at him thoughtfully. "So why haven't you run off yet? You were ready enough yesterday. What's stopping you today?"

Ranma looked out the window, avoiding her gaze. "Seems to me that you were pretty eager for me to be running yesterday, too."

The silence stretched out between them for a couple of minutes before he continued, in a rush of words. "Look, I'm not ready to get engaged to anyone. I'm too young. You're too young. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time getting our pops to listen to me when I say that."

He stood up, feeling too nervous and restless to sit still, and walked over to the window. He leaned on the sill, his forehead against the glass. "But I'm having second thoughts about running away and trying to live on my own. I'm only sixteen, and it'd be pretty hard. I'd have to get some sort of job, assuming I could find anybody to hire someone my age, or rent me a place to live. I expect I'd have to kiss my martial arts training good-bye."

He turned around again, but looked down at the floor instead of at her. "Besides, pop and your dad told me some stuff this morning. They were telling me about that stupid agreement they made and how it was worded. If I walk out, I don't just stain my own honor, but the honor of the Saotome name. Or however much honor is left to the name after the things pop's done. You know how much honor means to me." He shuffled a foot, hoping that she would understand.

Unfortunately for her own peace of mind, Akane did understand. During their time in China, they had enjoyed several long conversations on the subject of honor. At the time Akane had been pleased at how similar Ranma's feelings about it were to her own. Now she felt that sense of honor closing around them like a trap. "So what do we do?" Akane asked quietly.

Ranma shrugged. "I ain't sure there's a lot we _can_ do. Everyone else is acting like we're already engaged. Even your sisters seem to feel that because I was able to wake you, uh, the way I did, that we're somehow destined for one another. You know your family better than I do. I was hoping you might have some ideas. The only thing I can figure is to just keep telling them, over and over again, that we're not engaged 'cause we never agreed to it."

Akane shook her head. "I already told them, several times, that I didn't accept this engagement. They just ignored me. You're right - as far as they're concerned, we're already engaged. I'm not sure how to convince them."

Ranma suggested in a tentative tone, "What if we were to start fighting whenever they're around? Argue, call each other names, that sort of thing? Do you think we could convince them that we're obviously a bad match?"

Akane thought it over. "Ranma, I only knew your father for those two weeks, but ... do you think any of that would bother him at all?"

Ranma hung his head. "No. He'd probably just say something stupid about how couples fight all the time, and continue to insist that we're engaged."

Akane nodded. "That's what I thought. I think my own father would do the same. My sisters might be a bit upset by it, but in the end it's our fathers that we need to convince. I'm just not sure that would work. Besides, I'm not sure that I'd want to act that way."

A glum silence descended for a couple of minutes. Then Ranma cleared his throat and asked, "Speaking of how I, um, woke you ... you don't really think it was the kiss that gave you the curse, do you?"

Akane shook her head. "No, I think it probably has something to do with being inside your head for those two weeks. Most likely, that I was there when you got your curse. Maybe the magic works on a person's spirit as much as their body, and I was there in spirit ..."

"But you're a girl," he objected. "And the pool I fell in was supposed to curse a person to turn into a girl."

Akane shrugged. "I still think that's the best explanation. The guide said the magic of Jusenkyo has a mind of its own. Maybe the curse affected you directly, and then somehow reflected onto me. And because it was a reflection, it was reversed. Or, if you think there's some other reason, why don't you tell me what it is? Anyway, does it really matter now?"

Ranma leaned back against the glass of the window. "I suppose not. I just didn't want to think I was contagious, able to give the curse to other people. Or you being that way, either, if it comes to that."

Akane nodded, understanding. "I'm sure we can't pass the curse along like that. The guide seemed to know a lot about them, and I'm sure he would have mentioned it if something like that could happen. Besides, the fact that Nabiki didn't get the curse seems to prove it doesn't work that way." Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she gave a giggle. "On the other hand, if I could give the curse to someone else through a kiss, maybe I'd grant Kuno's fondest wish and kiss him." She thought this over, and her face twisted nauseously. "Then again, maybe not."

Ranma smiled tolerantly. "Well, at least you won't have to fight him, or the other guys, in the morning anymore."

Akane smoothed a rumple in her sheet. "Yeah, it made me so furious, the way they wouldn't get a clue." She sighed pensively. "I tried to convince myself it was a sort of training. Not that any of them were very skilled." She turned and gave Ranma a long look, making him feel very nervous. There was a request she wanted to make of him, something that she'd been thinking over since she woke up, even though it meant swallowing her pride to do so.

Taking a deep breath, Akane gathered her courage and began. "You know, umm, I got to see a lot of your martial arts skill, you know, when we were traveling together. Both in your own body and in your cursed form. And, well, I don't like admitting it ... actually, I hate admitting it, but you're better than I am ... even when you're using my body. As long as you're going to stick around anyway ... do you think ... could you work with me, help me get closer to your level? After all, if you can make my body do those things while you're inside it, you ought to be able to teach me to do the same when I'm the one inside it. What do you think?" She turned anxious eyes on the boy, while biting her lower lip.

Ranma looked scared. "Uh ... why would you wanna do that?"

Her voice, when she finally replied, was puzzled. "What do you mean, why would I want to? I'm a martial artist too. I want to be the best I can be. Isn't that what you want - to be the best that you can be? I think you could teach me a lot. What would you say if I asked why you would want to get better at martial arts?"

"Well, but it's different for me," he protested. "I'm a guy."

"What the hell does that matter?" Akane yelled. "Do you think that only boys can be martial artists?" She recalled some of the stupid things she had heard Genma spout in China. "That sounds like something your father would say."

Ranma didn't know what to say to this. Everything inside of him rebelled at agreeing with his pop. On the other hand, the idea of putting Akane through what he'd gone through to reach his level of skill ... there was no way he could do that. So he simply stood there, like a deer staring at onrushing headlights.

Akane looked at him staring at her and remarked bitterly, "So you don't think I'm worth training, I suppose. Even though we have exactly the same two bodies. I thought we were friends."

Ranma swallowed nervously and closed his eyes. "We ... we are. Look, you know what my pop is like, and he's the one that raised me. At least ... at least give me a little time. I gotta think about this. Okay?"

She gave him a hard, measuring look. She had spent two weeks out on the road with Ranma and his father. Akane tried to imagine what it would have been like living with Genma Saotome for ten years, but her imagination failed her. Ranma had said he would think about it. Maybe she _should_ let him have a chance to adjust to the idea. It wasn't as if her body was in shape for training at the moment, anyway.

"You promise to think about it?" Akane demanded. "Not just ignore it because it makes you uncomfortable?"

Ranma nodded and Akane sighed. She told him, "Okay. We'll drop the subject for the moment. But we _are_ talking about this again, someday soon."

The young man standing at the window looked very uncomfortable, head hanging. He didn't want to disappoint Akane, but at the moment he couldn't see how to do what she wanted either. There were a few things it would be safe to show her, but he was painfully certain she wouldn't be satisfied with them.

Deciding to change the subject, Ranma tentatively asked, "Going back to an earlier point. Do you think there's any way to talk our dads out of this engagement?"

Akane lay back, looking weary. "I don't see how. We'll continue to deny it. As far as I'm concerned, we're not engaged. Nobody asked for our opinion. But I suspect that everybody else is going to treat us like we are. We'll just have to try not to let it upset us too much, and keep telling them, over and over, that we can't be engaged if we haven't agreed to it."

Ranma finally sat back down. "Yeah. Okay, I guess we know where we stand there. We both know we're not really engaged. We both realize everybody else is going to say we are. We're both bugged about that." He decided that this hadn't been the best choice of a change of subject, so he announced the other bit of news from earlier. "Nabiki told me this morning she was going to get me registered as a student at Furinkan High School."

Akane's eyes widened. "That's the school I go to."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, so she said. For that matter, you mentioned the name a couple of times in China when you talked about your life here. Anyway, I was a bit surprised, my pop's not all that big on school, but he agreed that I should go." After a pause, he added, "I think your father talked him into it."

"Oh." Akane lay there and wondered how long it would be before the other students learned that he was supposed to be engaged to her, and their likely reactions when they did. It probably wouldn't take very long, the way rumors spread at her school. Hell, they'd probably know before she even went back to school. They might even know already.

Then another thought occurred to her. "Ranma, how are we going to keep these curses secret at school?"

Ranma blinked at her, confused. "I wasn't planning to pour water on my head and show them."

Akane sighed. "Do you remember all of those so-called accidents in China? It seemed that whenever we turned around, something dumped water on you. The same thing's going to happen here, just wait and see. We'll be outside at lunch and a freak rainstorm will pass over. Somebody holding a bucket of water for punishment in the hall will trip and spill it on one of us. You'll fall out a window and into the swimming pool. I don't think we're going to be able to hide it for long."

The boy snorted, "I think me falling out the window into the pool is a bit of a stretch." Still, as he thought this over, he was uncomfortably aware that she had made a good point. He asked plaintively, "Can't we try to keep it secret?"

Akane answered this question with another. "How long do you think we can hide it if we try?"

The boy hung his head again. "Not very long, I suppose. So what do we do, just come right out and tell them? Do you know how humiliating that would be?"

Akane looked him in the eye. "I'm no more anxious to face that than you are. Still, they're going to find out eventually, and I think we should be prepared for when they do."

Ranma gave her a weak smile. "I suppose so. Boy, they're gonna be in for a shock the first time it happens, aren't they? Suddenly, there's gonna be either two of you or two of me. Which reminds me." He paused and gave her a calculating look. "I saw that uniform that Nabiki was wearing this morning. You might want to try to get permission to wear something else. That would look pretty weird on you when you change into a guy. Besides, remember that time I changed back into a guy while wearing those panties?"

Akane returned his smile, though her cheeks colored. "That was a bit uncomfortable, wasn't it? You're right, I probably should do something about that. I suppose that means we'll have to tell the principal about our curses, at least. He'd be the one who'd have to give us permission to wear something else."

"I suppose," Ranma agreed. "Y'know, the clothes I wear fit pretty well whether I was male or female. You might try wearing something of the same sort yourself."

Akane thought about this a little, and then her smile turned positively wicked. "You know, Ranma, I was thinking earlier that we're probably going to get into a situation or two where people are going to mix us up. As long as we're stuck with these curses anyway, and people are insisting on treating us as some sort of couple, what do you say we make them pay for putting us in this spot?"

"What do you mean?" His brow furrowed, not understanding.

Akane spoke coaxingly. "What I mean, is, that I do exactly what you just said. I start wearing the same style of clothes you do. If one of us is in our cursed form, then people won't know which of us is which. For that matter, if one of us is male and the other female, they wouldn't be certain whether we're in our original forms or both of us are in our cursed forms."

Ranma pointed out, "We wear our hair differently. Remember, the hairstyle didn't change when we transformed."

Akane lifted a hand and waved it airily. "That's a minor detail. All we need to do is find a hairstyle that we're both comfortable with, that includes your dragon's whisker. Like, maybe a ponytail, tied at both the top and the bottom."

Ranma thought about it, amused in spite of himself at the idea of his pop being uncertain whom he was addressing. For that matter, it might help to keep things interesting at school, which otherwise promised to be pretty boring. Still, he pointed out another problem, "What about your forehead there? That's pretty obvious right now, and even after it heals it's bound to leave a scar."

Akane pouted. "Oh, stop being a spoilsport. All right, I admit that until it heals a bit, we're probably not going to get away with anything, but it won't take long to heal enough. Our hair will cover most of it, especially if we wear it in bangs, unless somebody looks really close. For that matter, I might be able to cover it with makeup, or fake one on you." She bared her teeth. "Maybe you'll even do something to upset me, and I'll give you a matching scar."

"You can be vicious sometimes, you know?" He was smiling while he said it, though. "It _would_ be a good way to get back at our families for not listening to us about this engagement business. I also like the idea of fooling our teachers and classmates occasionally. Could be fun." He turned a curious eye on her. "I hadn't really got the impression before of you being someone who'd act that way, y'know, in school and all. I figured you as being more serious about that sort of stuff."

Akane shrugged. "Don't mistake me, I do want to do well in school. But for two weeks I thought I was dead, and now I'm alive again. I feel ... I dunno, like I want to have a little more fun. I think for some time now that I've been too serious about everything."

Ranma grinned. "All right, then. I'll be your partner in crime for the sake of having some fun."

Akane returned his grin. "It's more likely that _I'll_ be _your_ partner in crime, and you know it." Her grin became even more feral. "Besides, I want to make daddy _pay_ for getting me into this."

Ranma sat back in a companionable silence, and they each contemplated their own thoughts. They were both thinking about how strangely twisted together their lives had become, and both were feeling grateful that they had been given a chance to get to know one another before yesterday. They both shuddered as they considered what that day might have been like if they had met then for the first time, only to be told that they were being forced into an engagement.

There was a knock at the door, shattering the peace which had fallen between them. Akane looked up and called, "Come in."

The door opened to admit Kasumi. She looked at Ranma with surprise, and quietly exclaimed, "Oh my, Ranma-kun. I didn't expect to find you here."

Ranma reached back and grabbed the end of his pigtail, fiddling with it nervously. "Yeah, well, I didn't have much of anyplace else to go this morning. I was getting kind of tired of pop and your dad nattering on about me and Akane being engaged, so I thought I'd come and talk to the one person who agrees with me about our engagement. You know, that we're not. Thought we'd cry on each other's shoulders, sort of."

Kasumi gave him a puzzled look mixed with a smile, as if she didn't quite comprehend his words but was determined to be cheerful anyway. As she turned back to Akane, Ranma stood and headed for the door. He said, "Hey, it was nice talking to you this morning, Akane. Keep up your spirits, I'm sure you'll be back home tomorrow. Then you can add your voice to mine in telling those two old fools that we're not really engaged." Akane told him good-bye, and he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

* * *

When Ranma returned to the Tendo home, he found that Nabiki had already arranged for him to take the entrance exam that very afternoon at one o'clock. He found the school without too much trouble, but things became more difficult after that. The exam didn't go smoothly, in fact the boy was sweating bullets by the time it was over. Ranma was pretty sure he had gotten at least some of the stuff right. He only hoped that it was enough.

When the exam was done, Ranma asked for permission to speak to the principal. He was informed that the man was very busy due to the state of disarray in which he had found the school. But after he demonstrated the curse for her, the secretary did agree to try to get him a little time. At least, she agreed to do so once she was able to uncross her eyes and speak again.

It took almost an hour, but eventually the secretary ushered Ranma into the principal's office. After properly greeting Principal Watanabe, he began to explain about the curse. The principal interrupted the boy, scolding him for wasting his time with nonsense. Ranma didn't reply verbally, he just walked over to a side table where a pitcher of water sat, and demonstrated. He was then obliged to get some hot water, change back, and demonstrate several more times.

After the man recovered from the shock, Ranma was able to explain how he had received the curse in the first place, and how cold and hot water triggered the transformation. He described how accidents with water seemed to seek him out, emphasizing the practical need to wear clothing which was suitable to either form. All of that was the easy part. Then he tried to explain about Akane.

Of course, the principal knew who Akane Tendo was, and that she had been hospitalized in a coma. After all, that was how he had come to hold his current job. But as Ranma told the tale of waking her with a kiss and the discovery of the mirrored curse, he watched dumbfounded as the stern older man's eyes grew moist. As he wrapped up the story, the principal pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes.

"That ... that was beautiful," the man behind the desk said with a catch in his throat. "So romantic. You and Miss Tendo are obviously soul mates, destined for one another."

"Say what?" Ranma protested.

"Soul mates," he repeated. "Two souls who are meant to be together, for all time. A coma is no obstacle to you. Your curses only draw you closer together. Ohhh ... I can't wait to get home and tell this tale to my wife. In fact, I believe I will telephone her now."

Ranma had no idea how to respond to this. "Uh, right ... so, about permission for Akane and me to wear something other than the school uniform?"

The principal gave a deep sigh, and seemed to pull himself together. "Yes, yes. I must remember that I am in charge here. It would not do to waive the uniform requirement without at least giving the matter a little thought. I will call you later with my decision."

Feeling a little dazed from the interview, Ranma bowed to the man, then left the office.

* * *

The next morning, Soun Tendo received a call from the hospital informing him that his daughter would be released at eleven o'clock. Shortly before eleven, Soun, Kasumi and Ranma left together, walking over to the hospital. Kasumi carried a change of clothing for Akane. The doctor was in the process of checking her out when they arrived. When he finished, the men stepped back out while Akane got dressed.

A nurse arrived with a wheelchair, and Akane was all but forced to sit in it for the ride down to the entrance. She only gave in when the nurse stood in the doorway and refused to let her leave the room otherwise. However, when they got outside and Akane stood up, she nearly fell right over again. Both her father and Ranma managed to catch her though.

The nurse, deciding that her patient had not paid sufficient attention to her physician, started to lecture her. "Now, dear, you're not really ready to walk on your own yet. The doctor did warn you, you know. Move around for brief periods today to build up your strength. Get a ride to school tomorrow, don't walk there. You ought to be okay sitting in class, and walking around a little between classes. You're not to participate in gym at all this week."

Timidly, Kasumi responded, "I'm afraid we don't have a car." She turned to Akane and said, "I suppose that father could carry you home. Or Ranma. After all, he is your fiancé."

Two voices reacted simultaneously.

"He is _not_ my fiancé!"

"I am _not_ her fiancé!"

Kasumi looked bewildered. Ranma and Akane turned to regard each other after their mutual outburst, then gave each other weak smiles and shakes of their heads.

There was still the question of who would carry Akane home. Ranma contemplated an image of himself doing so, and immediately realized how much more difficult it would be for them to deny that they were a couple if people saw him carrying her through the streets like that. He protested, "I'm sure she'd much rather be carried by her father."

Akane looked back and forth between Soun and Ranma, biting her lip, trying to decide on the lesser of two evils. She wasn't happy with her father about pushing the engagement, and Ranma had become a friend, but on the other hand being carried by the latter would look too much like she had accepted the arrangement. She sighed and said, "I think that daddy should carry me. After all, I only just met Ranma. And we're _not_ engaged."

"But Akane, what about my weak back?" her father objected. "I really think that your fiancé should carry you."

"Since when do you have a weak back?" Akane asked with mock sweetness.

"Er, I threw it out after you were injured?" he ventured. When it became apparent that this wasn't passing muster, he sighed and lifted his daughter into his arms.

About halfway home, a rotating water sprinkler on the other side of a wall sent its spray _over_ the wall, wetting both Ranma and Akane, and inevitably Soun Tendo as well. The man staggered as the body in his arms shifted, and he attempted to mentally adjust to the fact that he now appeared to be carrying Ranma. The only clues to the true nature of the situation were that the figure in his arms still wore Akane's dress, and had her hairstyle and injury.

Soun groaned after the transformation. Looking to the side at his daughter's twin, he commented, "Your body is a good deal heavier than Akane's." He took a moment to shift his grip, achieving a better balance. They then continued on their way.

As they walked, Akane talked with her sister about her clothing situation. "Kasumi? I'm going to have to make some changes to my wardrobe. This isn't at all comfortable right now. Ranma's body is bigger and these clothes don't fit so well. Not to mention that I look ridiculous like this." Her father made no comment, but from his expression it was clear that he agreed.

Akane saw that her father was uncomfortable carrying his daughter who was a boy wearing a dress. This pleased her, causing her to feel like she was getting a little of her own back for the surprise engagement. But she wanted more. She pretended to hide her face, but the wicked grin and wink she bestowed on Ranma warned him that she was up to something.

In a distressed tone, Akane added to her previous comment. "Besides, the panties I was wearing are suddenly awfully uncomfortable. They don't have nearly enough room for everything that's in them."

She smirked at the blushes she had managed to raise on both her father's and Kasumi's faces. Ranma thought she was laying it on a bit too thick. He gave her a scowl of reproof. She wrinkled her nose at him and shrugged. But when she continued, her tone of voice was a bit quieter.

"Ranma told me yesterday that the curse seems to attract water. I need clothes that will fit either body. Maybe the sort of thing that Ranma wears? They seem pretty suitable. What do you think?"

Kasumi seemed a little startled by this notion, but a closer look at the fit of the demure dress she'd selected on her sister's currently male body convinced her that something, indeed, would need to be done. She then looked at Ranma's clothes, and saw how they still fit reasonably well, despite his change to female form. "I guess you're right, Akane. Ranma's clothes do seem to fit him fairly well, male or female."

When they reached the Tendo home, Soun carried Akane to the top of the stairs and then, at her request, put her down. Leaning on Kasumi, Akane shuffled down the hall and into her room. Ranma remained downstairs to get some hot water to change back, then to rummage around in the refrigerator and see what he could find to eat.

While he was eating, the school secretary called to inform Ranma that he had passed the entrance exam, though only by the skin of his teeth. He could begin attending classes tomorrow. The secretary wanted him to come by the office to pick up a copy of his schedule and the other requirements for school. Ranma suggested instead that perhaps she could give them to Nabiki to bring home for him. This was readily agreed to.

The secretary then added, "Principal Watanabe also said to tell you that due to, er, 'extenuating circumstances,' he has decided to waive the school uniform requirement for yourself and Akane Tendo. I suppose that's a reference to, ah, er ... well, none of my business, really."

Remembering the demonstration he had given her in order to get the appointment with the principal, Ranma replied, "Yes. The uniform would make things a bit awkward. And ... Akane has the same problem. Please don't ask."

A few more polite words were exchanged, before they hung up. Ranma stuffed the last of his lunch into his mouth, then went upstairs to let Akane know that he would in fact be going to Furinkan High School. He also told her of the decision about the school uniforms. This came as a surprise to Akane, since she didn't know that Ranma had already taken steps to deal with the matters they had discussed.

As he was leaving her room, Akane asked him to send Kasumi in. A little while later, Kasumi came back downstairs and asked Ranma if he would accompany her. When they left the house, though, he discovered that he'd been tricked. They were going out shopping for clothes, something which he regarded as being about on a par with having teeth pulled.

Even worse, she wanted him in order to get clothes for _Akane_. Afterward, Ranma prayed that no one would discover that the older girl managed to talk him into transforming in order to try on the clothes she selected. In fact, he had gone so far as to swear Kasumi to secrecy about it.

However, the most stressful result of the shopping trip came later, something that Ranma hadn't foreseen. He went up to see if Akane would like some help walking around, since she was supposed to practice from time to time to build up her strength. When he opened the door and entered the room, he saw her wearing one of her new outfits. Quite unexpectedly, Ranma found himself wondering whether she was wearing any of the new undergarments Kasumi had purchased, sports bras and some type of silky shorts the older sister had called tap pants.

The thought caused him to freeze, overwhelmed by nervousness, and speechless as a result.

"Yes, Ranma?" Akane asked politely, while wondering if he would make any comment on her new clothes.

Ranma tried to get his tongue to make some sound, but it was behaving in a most uncooperative fashion. His face felt hot, and he began to worry that he might be blushing. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Akane in her cursed form instead, hoping that might help.

"Are you all right?" Akane inquired solicitously. His face seemed a little flushed, though she was puzzled as to the reason.

The new image he had conjured up finally got his tongue untied. Speaking quickly, Ranma asked, "Hey, Akane, you ready to try walking around some more?"

She grimaced. "Yeah, I guess, but let me try it on my own." Ranma watched carefully as she made her way unsteadily downstairs, before she finally collapsed on the couch in the family room.

From her sprawled position, Akane noticed Ranma looking at her worriedly. She gave him a rueful smile. "Guess I'd better work at walking a bit harder if I want to get around school tomorrow, huh?"

Ranma nodded, giving her a critical look from head to toe. "Yeah, we should get you on your feet every half hour for the rest of today, as far as you can bear to walk each time. Maybe some calisthenics in between." He sat down at the end of the couch, and put his hands on the soles of her feet. "Push," he commanded.

Akane wearily did so for several repetitions. Ranma then went up the stairs and back to her room. He had seen a box of weights in there earlier, and brought down a couple of the smaller ones. "Here," he said, handing them to her. "Spend a little while building up your arm strength, too."

"Slave driver," the girl muttered, but took the weights and started pumping her arms up and down, one after the other. She paused after doing so a dozen times, the muscles in her arms protesting, wondering how long it was going to take to get her body back into shape.

A little wearily, Akane commented, "It seems there are some forms of training you don't mind helping me with."

Ranma looked away, apparently embarrassed. "Aww, this ain't nothing. Not like what you really want me to do. You do realize that even if you talk me into it, it'll be a while before you're in shape for it?"

Akane nodded, and by mutual unspoken agreement they let the subject drop once more.

When Nabiki got home that afternoon, it was clear that she'd had a look at Ranma's schedule. She looked over at Akane sitting on the couch and her grin only grew wider, then she turned back to Ranma. "Hey, Ranma-kun, guess what? You've been put into the same homeroom as Akane. In fact, your schedule is identical to hers except for when she's in home ec and gym. I guess the two of you are just fated to be together, huh?" She chuckled at their protests as she walked out and went upstairs to her bedroom.

By nightfall, Akane was getting around the house on her own, if a bit slowly. She went out to the dojo but found that even a beginning kata was beyond her present strength. Nonetheless, she was starting to feel confident that she really would be able to manage school the next day. When she'd first come downstairs, she'd been scared that she would still be too weak. Now, it looked like it would merely be a minor ordeal.

On coming back in from the dojo, Akane decided to take her evening bath. It was a ritual performed a thousand times before, and the habit carried her along easily, without the need for conscious thought. After undressing in the outer room, she picked up her towel, stepped through into the bathing room and stopped in her tracks, shocked. Ranma froze as well, in the process of climbing out of the furo, one foot in and one out, staring back like a wild animal which has been surprised. She looked at him looking back at her, both of them unclothed, fully exposed.

They maintained that tableau for several long seconds, neither one moving, until Akane suddenly whipped around and retreated into the changing room. She quickly pulled her clothes back on, but found she didn't have the energy to do more. She collapsed on the bench in that room, suddenly feeling too tired to walk any further.

When the door to the bathing room opened again, a minute or so later, Ranma peered through, a towel modestly wrapped around himself. He wilted slightly under her glare, but protested, "Hey, you're the one who walked in on me!"

The glare intensified. Akane replied in a scathing voice, "Perhaps, but you're supposed to put the 'Occupied' sign on the door."

"Er, what 'Occupied' sign?" he asked nervously. Akane pointed. There it was, clear and unmistakable, hanging in plain sight on the wall near the door. "Oh. That 'Occupied' sign." He scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture. "Sorry 'bout that."

Akane sighed. "You're just lucky I'm too weak to punch your lights out. What I'm still trying to figure out is why I haven't screamed my head off."

Ranma shrugged. "Maybe it's the fact that for a couple of weeks, we bathed together every day. Not to mention other unmentionable acts that people have to do every day. We've already seen each other's bodies quite a few times now."

Akane frowned at him. "It's not the same thing. If this ever happens again, I am going to crush you flat, tie a stone to you, and drown you in that furo. Understand?"

"Um, understood. It won't happen again." Ranma picked up his clothes and left the room, hoping that he wouldn't encounter anyone else until he reached the guest room and could get dressed.

Once she was alone again, Akane sighed, and started slowly removing her clothes once more. The truth was, she suspected that what he had said was correct. While it had been a shock to see him like that, and to have him looking at her, those sights were not brand new to them. She had seen his male body numerous times already, as he had seen her female body. Furthermore, with their curses, they were each going to become very familiar with both of those bodies. Under the circumstances, mounting the proper outrage for what had happened would have taken just a little too much effort for her fatigued state.

As she sat on the stool and poured the water over herself to rinse, Akane felt the increasingly familiar tingle which signaled the activation of her curse. Feeling very guilty for doing so, Akane took the time to examine her male body carefully, knowing all too well that it was a duplicate of Ranma's body. It seemed so strange to have one of those. She washed it carefully, examining it with her hands and wondering at the new sensations. She watched bemused as it slowly grew into that state she had surprised on Ranma several minutes earlier. She wondered if Ranma had made as careful an examination of his female body, the twin to Akane's own, at some point in the last couple of days. Now that he need no longer worry about her internal voice yelling at him for doing so.

She decided probably not, given the overall shyness about such matters he had exhibited during the time she was in his head.

Troubled by the thoughts going through her own head, Akane hurried to the furo, trying to ignore the unfamiliar bobbing weight below. She sank down into the hot water blissfully, feeling her body transform back to a more familiar form. She tried to forget Ranma, and curses, and anything other than the pleasant heat surrounding her.

* * *

Before breakfast the next morning Akane watched while Ranma and his father sparred. It was the best way she could think of to spend the time. After all, she was far from being ready to resume her early morning jogs.

Breakfast itself was not an easy meal for four of the six at the table. Soun barricaded himself behind his newspaper, trying to pretend nothing was different. Genma on Soun's left was in his panda form, which made his uneasiness less obvious, as he greedily devoured his food. Nabiki, on Genma's other side, already in her school uniform, and Kasumi at the other end of the table, had no such means to hide their feelings.

The cause of their discomfort was the remaining pair on the final side of the table. Akane and Ranma might have been identical twins, both in female form, looking like Akane, and even dressed in matching clothing. The only way to tell them apart was their hair, the damp state of Ranma's clothes from his dip in the pond, and the healing injury on Akane's temple. They were acting like they didn't even notice everyone else's discomfiture.

After breakfast, Ranma changed back to his male body once more, then met Akane and Nabiki as they prepared to leave for school. Akane turned to her father with a frown, noticing that he was busy setting up a shogi board. Since he made no move to get up, she turned away with a huff and prepared to walk out the door on her own. Except that Ranma put out a hand to stop her.

Noting the byplay, Kasumi turned toward Soun and said, a trifle impatiently, "Father. Don't you remember? The nurse said that Akane wasn't to walk to school this morning. We agreed that you were to carry her."

Their father looked up, a woebegone look on his face. He reached a hand behind himself and winced. "Ohhh ... did I forget to tell you? Yesterday, when I was carrying Akane and she changed to a boy, I pulled a muscle in my back. It stiffened up overnight. I'm sure that I couldn't possibly carry her all of the way to the school."

"And who's supposed to carry me, then?" Akane asked in dangerous tones.

"Your fiancé, of course!" Soun replied happily. "There's no other choice."

"Hey, now! Just a minute ..." Ranma began.

Genma, who had changed back to human, interrupted his son. "What kind of a man are you, Ranma? Will you force your fiancée to walk all the way to school in her condition? Are you that hard-hearted?"

Ranma growled. "Shut up, old man! Do the two of you really expect us to believe that story about a pulled muscle? Besides, I don't see anything wrong with _your_ back, pop."

Akane's anger was submerged under a look of uneasiness, as she pictured Genma Saotome carrying her. "Er, Ranma, I don't think ..."

Her father, paying no attention to his daughter, answered Ranma. Tears sprang into his eyes. "You don't believe me? Ohhh, my future son-in-law thinks I'm a liar. He's so cruel that he wishes me to strain my already sore back."

Akane once again looked angry. "Of course we don't believe you! This is just some stupid scheme ... ooooh!" She trailed off wordlessly, closing her eyes and clenching her fists. "If this keeps up we're going to be late for school! Ranma ..."

She turned to him, then paused before letting out a deep breath. "Would you ... mind? It doesn't mean anything, whatever these two fools think. I don't want to be late, my first day back, which is all that's going to happen if we keep arguing."

Ranma blew out an exasperated breath. "Pop, I'm gonna get you for this," he muttered. It wasn't that he was averse to carrying Akane. She was a friend, and she was in need of help. He was just worried about the rumors that might circulate when people saw them. "Okay, Akane. Let's go."

The three of them picked up their school supplies and left the house together, giving one last scowl apiece in the direction of the two fathers. At the gate, Akane turned and looked at Ranma resignedly. When he made no immediate move, she raised her eyebrows inquiringly. Finally, trying to ignore the smirk on Nabiki's face, Ranma stooped in front of Akane so that she could climb onto his back.

As they came up beside the canal, Ranma crouched slightly, then sprang up onto the fence beside it and continued walking along the top. Akane exclaimed, "Eek! What are you doing?" She struggled a little, forcing Ranma to stop and pay attention to his balance.

"Hey, stop struggling idiot! You're gonna make me fall!"

Akane went still, while Nabiki stared at them curiously. In a grim voice, Akane said, "Okay, I'm holding still. Now will you please tell me just what the hell you're doing?"

Ranma stared back at her. ‹She ought to know this,› he thought to himself. ‹I did it several times when I had the chance in China.› Out loud, he explained, "Balance training. Pop says everything ought to be training of some form. So when I'm out walking, if I have the opportunity, I walk along something like this to exercise my sense of balance."

Akane gritted her teeth, as Ranma started walking along again. "Okay, I actually understand that. But why are you doing it while carrying me?"

Ranma wanted to shrug, but it was a little difficult while she was on his back. "Why not? As long as you're not wiggling around, it isn't any harder than doing it by myself. You don't have to worry, I've done this sort of thing a lot. Usually with a great big pack on my back. Which was a whole lot heavier than you."

Akane sighed. "If you fall down while carrying me, you and I are going to have words. Loud and piercing words. The kind that leave scars."

Ranma turned his head to grin at her. "Don't worry. Nothing like that's gonna happen." Nabiki continued walking along the sidewalk underneath them, shaking her head at these antics. She was beginning to grasp just how much what she thought of as her normal life was going to be turned upside-down in the coming days.

As they neared the intersection where they were to turn, Ranma leaped off of the fence, landing clear on the other side of the street. He turned to smirk at Akane and asked, "So, how was that for a landing? Eh?" Before she could form a reply a wave of water washed across them.

Ranma took a moment to re-center himself, now that he was female and was carrying a male body on his back. Akane's snide comment was, "Oh yeah, perfect landing Ranma. Right in front of someone tossing water on the sidewalk." Ranma turned to the side and observed an elderly woman holding a ladle, who was looking at them in some consternation.

As Nabiki crossed the street and joined them, she asked, "Shouldn't a martial artist have more awareness of his surroundings than that, Ranma-kun?"

Ranma growled at both girls. "Laugh it up, you two. But now we gotta go back home and bathe. I got no intention of showing up as a girl for my first day."

"But we'll be late," Akane protested. "Look, all we need is hot water, right? C'mon, there's a place just a couple blocks further where we can get some."

"Doctor Tofu's?" Nabiki asked. Akane nodded, and Nabiki walked off leading the way.

After a couple of blocks Ranma saw a clinic up ahead. Nabiki went inside but Akane had Ranma stop just outside. He put Akane down to let her stand on her own feet temporarily. While they waited, a bony hand suddenly landed on Akane's shoulder and both spun around to find themselves looking a skull in the eye. The two teenagers jumped in fright, with Ranma ending up clutching the top of a wall and Akane halfway up a lamppost clinging to it.

As they each caught their breath, they saw a man with glasses who was holding onto the skeleton. Akane dropped back to the ground and shyly said, "Oh, hello Doctor Tofu."

The doctor turned a puzzled glance on the young man who had just addressed him. "Um, hello. Do I know you?" He turned to Ranma and greeted him with, "And hello to you, Akane. What brings you by my clinic this morning? No new injuries I hope?" Then he started looking even more confused as he took in Ranma's pigtail, and the lack of the healing injury. He turned back to Akane, and studied her healing wound. "Uh-h-h ...?"

At that point Nabiki emerged from the clinic with a kettle. "Hello Doctor Tofu," she called brightly. Then she handed the kettle to the young man who had first addressed the doctor and said, "Here you go, sis."

Akane's voice trembled a little as she searched for something to say. "Um, it's a little hard to explain, and we're already in danger of being late for school. I'm Akane, and this ..." She gestured toward the girl with Akane's face. "... is Ranma Saotome, a guest at our house. We both have water activated curses. Maybe we can come by and tell you about it later." She poured the water on her head, changing back to her female body. Then she handed the kettle to Ranma and took the towel Nabiki was holding out to dry herself off. Ranma poured the water, also changing, and Tofu's eyes crossed as he watched the pair appear to exchange bodies.

Nabiki added helpfully, "Ranma is Akane's fiancé. They just got engaged."

Tofu was feeling a little numb from all of the shocks. "Uh, aren't they a trifle young to be engaged?"

Akane yelled, "Nabiki!" Then she turned to the doctor and said, "We are _not_ engaged. That's just some stupid idea of our fathers." Turning to the other two, she declared, "We've got to be going, or we really are going to be late." Ranma got Akane up onto his back again, and he and Nabiki took off at a trot, leaving a seriously confused doctor staring after them.

Doctor Tofu Ono gazed down at the skeleton in his hands, and addressed his next words to it. "Betty-chan, did Kasumi Tendo come by the clinic this morning? Did I forget? Except ... the hallucinations induced by her visits usually aren't quite so very strange."

* * *

**Author's note:**

Stick around for the conclusion of the story in Chapter 6, "Together Interchangeably."

For those who are curious about the source of an author's inspirations, the ideas for this story arose more or less in the following stages.

In reviews of other stories of mine, some people have complained that Ranma and Akane would certainly want to engage in sexual intimacies as two females.

I have sometimes wondered whether, were Akane cursed to become male instead, these same people would advocate as strongly that they would certainly want to engage in such acts as two males.

There are of course numerous fanfics out there where Akane receives a Nanniichuan curse. So I had no interest in just writing a generic story where Akane has such a curse. Also Ranma isn't really Ranma without his curse to turn female.

For some reason, while reflecting on such thoughts, I was reminded of a passage from the fantasy novel _Demons of the Dancing Gods_ by Jack Chalker. Joe (the hero) received a "pure were" curse, which turns him into whatever animal he is standing near at moonrise on the nights of the full moon. The sorcerer Ruddygore talks to him about the woman who bit him, saying that she and her husband have such a curse and "... most of the time they just turn into each other. They seem to think it's fun. At least it's appealingly kinky." (This is not a recommendation for the book. In my opinion, despite a few good scenes, it is much inferior to the first book in the _Dancing Gods_ series.)

Naturally this inspired the idea of having Akane and Ranma turn into each other, instead of just having Akane turn male and Ranma turn female.

As a means to accomplish this, I decided to have Akane present in spirit inside Ranma when he is cursed, and have the pattern for his curse taken from Akane instead of his DNA. At the same time, I had the magic of the curse reflect off of Ranma's spirit onto Akane's, so that she gets the same curse, only reversed. This assumes that the curse is anchored in the spirit rather than the body.


	6. Together Interchangeably

**Togetherness  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.

* * *

**Chapter 6. Together Interchangeably**

It was the morning of Ranma's first day at Furinkan High School, and of Akane's first day back after her injury. Ranma and Nabiki were running toward the school, with Ranma carrying Akane on his back. The cursed couple were in their proper bodies, thanks to a quick visit to Doctor Tofu's clinic, but they hadn't had time to wait for the poor doctor to recover from his confusion at seeing Akane and Ranma appear to swap bodies. They were already running late, quite literally.

As they ran, Ranma asked, "That Doctor Tofu, he's a martial arts master, isn't he?"

Akane responded in surprise, "Huh, how could you tell? It's true. He's very good, even though he doesn't look like he would be."

Ranma nodded as she confirmed his guess. "It was the way he snuck up on us. He somehow managed to mask all sense of his presence. That takes a lot of skill." He then frowned slightly and said quietly, so Nabiki wouldn't overhear, "I'm surprised you didn't tell me more about him in China. In fact, you didn't tell me _anything_ about him in China."

Akane looked a little guilty, and embarrassed, but didn't say anything.

Nabiki called over her shoulder, "Hey, Ranma, the school gate is almost in sight."

Ranma came to a stop, calling "Thanks, Nabiki." He was a little surprised that she didn't stop as well. As he set Akane down he shrugged, figuring that Nabiki just wanted to hurry to her classroom for some reason. Ranma accompanied Akane as she slowly walked up to the school gate.

Akane was feeling very awkward. She was quite accustomed by now to charging this gate, screaming her hatred of boys, prepared to battle the dozens of idiots who would attack her. None of that would happen this morning. Instead, she was walking calmly toward the gate with a boy beside her. It was even stranger to think that she would not have to face Kuno this morning.

Akane rocked back on her heels in surprise when she stepped through the gate to see a large crowd of girls waiting. It looked like every girl from her homeroom was present, and at least an equal number from other classes. They quickly moved to surround the pair, with her friends Yuka and Sayuri in the front.

"So this is your fiancé," Yuka remarked, winking at Akane.

Sayuri was circling the nervous boy, commenting, "Akane, you lucky, lucky girl."

Several other girls in the crowd were making similar remarks, or even worse. Some were asking for details on how they had gotten engaged, and where Akane's ring was. Both Akane and Ranma were trying to protest that they weren't engaged, that it was just a crazy idea of their fathers, but nobody seemed to pay any attention.

Yuka dragged her attention away from the sweating boy, and looked Akane up and down. "What gives with the clothes, Akane? I mean it's cute and all that you want to dress like your fiancé, but aren't you worried about getting into trouble for being out of uniform?"

Akane stammered out, "I've, uh, got permission. From the principal. It's because of a side effect of, uh, the injury, or the recovery from my injury. I'm gonna have to wear clothes like this for a while."

Yuka gave her a weird look. "That doesn't make any sense."

Akane couldn't look her friend in the eye, so studied her toes instead. "Even if it doesn't make any sense, I do have permission. Look, the reason is, um, really embarrassing. I don't want to talk about it, at least not out here, right now. Maybe I'll invite you and Sayuri over later and explain. Can we please avoid the subject for now?"

Yuka smiled. "Okay. But I'm really looking forward to hearing that explanation."

At that point the warning bell rang, and they were all forced to go inside or risk being late for class. Ranma stuck near Akane, ready to catch her if she stumbled, but she made it to the classroom without any mishap. She did execute an almost uncontrolled fall into the chair at her desk, but without hurting herself. When Ranma looked around the room wondering where he should sit, Sayuri slyly pointed to the desk immediately to Akane's left, despite the fact that it was only one of four unused desks in the classroom. Figuring that she knew best, he took the suggested seat.

When the teacher walked in seconds after the next bell, the students quieted down immediately. He looked over the class, a small smile appearing when he first caught sight of Akane. "It is good to have you back with us, Tendo-san. We all hope that you have recovered fully from your injury, and that you will be able to catch up quickly on the work which you missed. Our new principal has already informed me that he has waived the uniform requirement for you and our new student sitting beside you." He frowned, remembering that odd conversation. The principal had not been entirely forthcoming as to his reasons. The man shrugged. It was far from the strangest thing he had ever encountered at this school. "In any case, would our newest student care to stand up and introduce himself?"

Ranma stood and turned, looking at all of the faces looking back at him. "Uh, my name is Ranma Saotome, and I'm a martial artist, the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. My pop and I have just returned from a training trip that took us to China. We're currently staying with the Tendo's because my pop and Tendo-san are old friends."

Someone, Ranma didn't see who, called out, "You forgot to mention that you and Akane are engaged."

He scowled, trying to pinpoint the speaker. "We ain't engaged. Our fathers tried to force us to be, but we didn't agree so that means we ain't."

"That will be enough Saotome-kun," the teacher said wearily, recognizing that the new student was working up to losing his temper. He didn't really care about the various rivalries and relationships among the students as long as they didn't interfere with his lessons. "Please resume your seat. If you get into an argument, you'll find yourself standing out in the hall holding a bucket." Ranma sat back down, scowling. The teacher began the lesson.

Morning classes went about as expected. Akane paid careful attention to the teachers, trying to pick up on where they were now and figure out things she had missed during her absence. Ranma vacillated between paying attention to classes in which he had a mild interest (such as history) and allowing his mind to wander for those in which he was not only uninterested but had insufficient background (like math). He found himself nodding off during the latter subjects. The morning ended with Ranma holding a bucket in the hall because he started snoring.

At lunchtime, Akane chose to remain at her desk to eat, not wishing to exert herself to go elsewhere. The other girls in the class remained there as well, clearly intent on grilling her further. Ranma had thought about eating with Akane, since she was the only one he knew in the school other than Nabiki, but when he saw the girls gathering around her, he decided to find another place to eat. When he saw the boys converging on his own position, Ranma grabbed his bento and hopped out through a classroom window. There was a startled gasp from everyone present, and a group rush for the window, but they all saw him calmly walking across the lawn as if he jumped out of third floor windows every day. The boys looked at one another, then headed out the door in a group, determined to hunt the new guy down and ask him some things.

They found him sitting under one of the trees, calmly eating his lunch. Gathering together, the boys arranged themselves in a semicircle around Ranma, three rows deep. He eyed them a touch warily as he continued to eat. One of the boys started the interrogation with, "So are you and Tendo-san really engaged?"

Ranma only managed not to choke because he had been expecting the question. "No! We are _not_. Our fathers are trying to tell us we are. That we have to be. But neither of us have agreed and until we agree, we aren't, plain and simple. We don't want to be engaged." He sighed as he saw the mass of disbelieving looks gazing in his direction.

A boy sitting immediately to Ranma's right said, "You expect us to believe you wouldn't want to be engaged to Akane Tendo? She's the hottest babe in school! C'mon, tell the truth, what does she look like with her clothes off?"

Ranma reached over and grabbed the boy by the collar, tightening it around his neck, and dragging his nose to within twenty centimeters of Ranma's own. He watched the boy's face slowly start turning blue. In a quiet, menacing voice Ranma asked, "What the hell makes you think I would have seen her undressed? For that matter, what the hell makes you think you have the right to ask a question like that?"

A boy on the opposite side, apparently unheeding of his own safety, said, "Oh come on, Saotome! You can't blame us for being curious. Have you two gone all the way yet?"

Ranma glared at the new speaker, not noticing the first boy trying to use his eyes to beg for air. Until the rather frank tutorial Akane had given him in China, Ranma would not even have made the connection between the slang expression and the act to which it referred. He now fought to prevent himself from blushing at the thought. To help cover his embarrassment, Ranma growled, and then announced, "I've trained all my life at martial arts. I can, and have, cracked _boulders_ by punching them. Now I am going to continue eating my lunch. The next person who asks me a question about Tendo-san, I am going to hit, very hard." He picked up some food with his left hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

The last boy to have spoken swallowed a little nervously, but managed to find his voice as he pointed. "Er, maybe you should let go of Hiroshi there? I think he's about to pass out." Ranma looked in surprise at the boy he was still holding and then let go, allowing him to fall to the grass. The other boys started eating their lunches as well, and quiet reigned.

Meanwhile up in their classroom, the other girls had begun their interrogation of Akane. "Okay Akane, spill. What's he like?"

Akane finished chewing what was in her mouth and swallowed. "Ranma? Well, he's a really good martial artist. He doesn't know how to deal with other people very well because of the way his father raised him. On the other hand, he's not a pervert like most boys. He has a strong sense of honor."

The other girls sighed in annoyance. This wasn't exactly the sort of thing they were looking for. "Have you kissed him yet?" one of the girls asked.

Akane stared at her, speechless, as she remembered how Ranma had revived her. Yes, they had kissed, but it hadn't been romantic. Or at least it hadn't started that way, she thought guiltily, as her mind insisted on replaying the moments when she had started kissing him back. Her classmates naturally put their own interpretation on her silence.

"Ooh, you have!" another girl exclaimed. "Is he a good kisser?"

"It's not like that," Akane tried to protest.

The other girls were looking a little more eager. Yet another girl said, "It looks like he has a really hot body. Have you seen him undressed yet?"

Akane blushed as she remembered the furo incident, not to mention numerous viewings while her spirit had been living inside his body. Then her mouth opened itself and betrayed her, "I didn't mean to!" Akane groaned inwardly as she saw all of her friends leaping to erroneous conclusions. "You don't understand," she tried again to protest, though it sounded weak even to herself.

"Wow, Akane," exclaimed the one who had asked if she had kissed Ranma. "You sure move fast for someone who only a couple of weeks ago was screaming about how she hated boys."

"Yeah," said another. "I sure wish I could trade places with you."

Sayuri eyed her increasingly embarrassed friend, and her gaze took on a wicked gleam as she decided to see how far Akane could be pushed. "So, Akane, you've seen him naked. Have you touched _it_?"

Akane looked in stupefaction at her friend, and her mind was forced to remember how she had examined her own cursed body after the furo incident. She stuttered, "N-n-not exactly." Then she started screaming at herself for sheer idiocy, and added, "No, of course I haven't!" The look everyone was giving her told her that this absolute denial had come far too late.

Akane looked down at her bento, her face as red as a beet. "I'm not saying anything else," she declared. The girls continued to ask her various questions, but Akane ate on silently in grim determination, trying to ignore the additional blushes which some of those questions raised. She knew that if her intent had been to convince her classmates that she and Ranma were not a couple, that she had just failed miserably.

The end of the school day took much too long to arrive as far as Akane was concerned. The looks she had been getting from the other girls ever since lunch had been mortifying. She also hadn't cared at all for sitting on the sidelines during gym class and simply watching everyone else. Akane had already known that she wanted to regain her strength as soon as possible. But now this determination crystallized into something like solid steel.

When Akane and Ranma stepped out the front door of the school, they found Nabiki waiting for them. She turned to regard her little sister and their houseguest, and arched her eyebrow at Akane. With a hint of a smile, she told them, "I've been hearing some _interesting_ rumors about the things you two have been up to in your spare time. You really should be more careful how you phrase things, dear sister." She was rewarded by seeing a deep flush suffuse Akane's face, while Ranma looked on perplexed.

They walked through the school gate and started home, both Ranma and Nabiki keeping a close eye on Akane. As soon as the younger girl's legs started to tremble, Ranma put a hand on her shoulder stopping her. Akane turned to look at him, knowing why he had stopped her, then looked past him to where some of their classmates were walking along the same street. She turned a beseeching gaze on Nabiki, but the latter only smiled and shook her head negatively. Akane sighed, but nodded, and with Ranma's cooperation she climbed up onto his back. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the looks on the faces of the people watching them.

Partway home, Akane reminded Ranma she had told Doctor Tofu they would stop by to explain about the curses. Nabiki wished them luck, saying that she had to get home to take care of some things. They went their separate ways, and a couple of blocks later Akane and Ranma arrived at the clinic. He set her back on her feet just inside the door, where they exchanged their shoes for slippers and then asked the receptionist if they could speak to the doctor. She asked them to take a seat for a little bit, as he was busy with a patient.

A quarter hour passed before an elderly gentleman emerged through the door in the back, and then Doctor Tofu appeared in the door behind him. He beamed on catching sight of the two teenagers. "Ah, Akane and, uh, Ranma Saotome, correct?" Tofu recollected the disturbing encounter earlier that day, and Akane's promise to stop by to explain. He looked for and spotted Akane's healing wound to make sure that he had them straight this time. "That incident this morning ... I really did see you two exchange bodies?"

"Er, not exactly," Akane replied. "Something like that. We both have these curses, you see ..."

Tofu held up a hand. "Why don't we go back to my office?" He gestured for the pair to join him, and left the room.

As they sat down in his office and Tofu poured some tea for everyone, he got another look at the side of Akane's head. He stepped over beside her and asked, "Before you tell me about your, er, curses, why don't you let me have a look at your injury, Akane?" He brushed her hair back and examined the healing tissue carefully. He continued to speak while doing so.

"When I heard about what happened I offered to consult, but the doctors caring for you seemed to have everything as well in hand as possible. I did visit you while you were in the hospital, though of course you didn't know I was there." He finished his examination and stepped back around the desk to sit down. "During my visits I observed an apparent absence of chi in your body. It was frankly rather disturbing, as it suggested, well ... I did not speak of my fears to anyone, and I'm exceedingly glad to see that I must have been mistaken."

Akane closed her eyes, wondering if she dared tell the truth to this man, but decided against it in the end. She went so far as to say, "Well, I did feel like I was ... somewhere else."

He nodded, then said, "Just a moment." He went to a cabinet, and moved some things around for a few seconds before returning with a small jar. "This salve should speed the healing process. Rub a little on the injury each night before bed, and each morning before school."

"Thank you Doctor Tofu," she said shyly as she took the jar from his hand.

The doctor settled back into his own chair once more, then asked with a great deal of restrained curiosity in his voice, "I believe you were saying something about curses this morning, and a few minutes ago?"

Akane turned to the boy beside her and said, "Perhaps you should do most of the explaining, Ranma. After all, you're the one who was cursed originally."

Ranma winced, then nodded and cleared his throat. "Right. Uh, my pop and I have been out on the road for about ten years now, training me in martial arts. Several months ago we swam over to China ..."

"Swam?" asked the doctor, a little incredulously.

"Uh, yeah, pop was too cheap to pay to go by boat. Of course, he called it training. Anyway, a couple weeks before I showed up here, about the same time Akane was injured as near as we can tell, my pop and I went to a place called Jusenkyo Valley."

The doctor interrupted again. "Jusenkyo?" He tried to chase down a stray thought. "I could swear I've heard that name somewhere before. Something I read, probably. Um, sorry, please go on."

Ranma did so. "The floor of the valley is covered by all these pools of water, and if you fall into one you get cursed. We started sparring, and I knocked my pop into the 'Spring of Drowned Panda.' When he climbed out, he was a panda bear, and he knocked me into the 'Spring of Drowned Girl.' Now, whenever we get splashed with cold water, he turns into a panda bear and I turn into a girl. Hot water changes us back."

Ranma looked over at Akane. "The puzzling thing is that when I change into a girl, I look just like Akane here. Except that I don't have that mess on my noggin, and my hair is still in a pigtail. On the other hand, I've noticed that when I change, my hair turns the exact same color as hers. If you look close right now, you'll see that even though we both have black hair, the color ain't quite identical."

Akane looked a little surprised. "I hadn't noticed that." She looked over at him. "You hadn't mentioned it either."

Ranma shrugged. "Didn't seem terribly important, I guess. Well, pop decided it was time to come back to Japan, so we did so, and he told me we were going to look up his old friend Soun Tendo. What he didn't bother telling me until the last minute was that he and Tendo-san had an agreement where two of their children were supposed to get married." Now Ranma was looking a little angry, and Akane was looking grim as well.

After the silence had lasted for several seconds, Tofu ventured, "I see. But surely there's more to the story. Akane seems to have the same curse?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry," Ranma said, then continued. "Well, when I arrived I saw a photograph of Akane and realized that she looked just like my cursed form. We explained the curses and showed them what I looked like. Nabiki seized on the idea that the resemblance meant there was some sort of magic that would let me revive Akane. So they dragged me over to the hospital and, uh, well ..." He finished in a rush, "... told me to kiss her."

Akane looked embarrassed, while Tofu smiled. "I see. And the kiss of the handsome prince awoke the sleeping princess?"

Ranma groaned. "Oh man, not you too? Yeah, that's the idea Nabiki had in mind. Akane woke up, but then when she got splashed by her dad it turned out that she was cursed also, except she turns into a guy that looks just like me."

Tofu shook his head, trying not to chuckle at their obvious discomfiture. "I imagine at that point you found it just about useless to argue with your fathers about the two of you being engaged."

Ranma groaned even more loudly, and Akane joined him this time. Ranma admitted, "You got that right, doc. They ain't listening to us at all. We haven't agreed to this, but everybody else keeps insisting that we're engaged."

Tofu smiled but sympathized. "I'm sorry to hear that. I promise that for my part I'll avoid referring to you as each other's fiancé unless you change your minds about it. Now, would it be too much for me to ask if you would demonstrate the curse for me again, now that I'm a little better prepared for it?"

Akane and Ranma looked at one another, then shrugged mutually. "I guess not," Akane told him. They both got up. Ranma picked up the pitcher of water that was on the counter and brought it back to his chair. Akane returned to the room a minute later with some hot water and a couple of towels.

Doctor Tofu focused on observing the flow of chi in their bodies, and was pleased to notice that Akane's was indeed flowing strongly again. As first Ranma and then Akane poured the cold water over their heads and triggered the transformation, the doctor grunted in amazement at the rapid realignment of chi from male to female form or vice versa. However, a flash of something else caught his eye as well, and he focused on Akane's left hand.

Yes, there was indubitably a pulsing red string attached to the smallest finger of Akane's left hand. Trying not to grin, he followed it to its further end on Ranma's left hand. They might protest the engagement now, but the doctor felt confident that they would one day come to accept it. As the pair poured hot water on themselves, he watched their chi realign once more to their original forms, and also watched in fascination as the red string between them seemed to gain slightly in solidity.

"That was truly fascinating," Tofu told them. "I am sure that the change is physically complete, as even the flow of chi in your body changes to the form expected for male or female, as appropriate. I can also foresee some awkward cases of mistaken identity in future, particularly if you two continue to dress in a similar fashion."

Akane gave him an evil smile. "I'm counting on it. If people are going to refuse to listen to us about the engagement, then I think I have a right to extract a little revenge on them."

Tofu chuckled, while hoping they would pass over him in their plotting. He told them, "I will see if I can remember where I heard of Jusenkyo before, or what I may learn of it. Perhaps there is some means to help you gain a measure of control over the curses. Please feel free to come and see me anytime if you find yourselves having some difficulty in consequence of your curses, or if you just need a sympathetic ear."

"Thank you Doctor Tofu. That's very kind of you," Akane told him warmly. She and Ranma stood and bowed, then left the clinic again. Once outside, Akane suffered herself to be carried the rest of the way home.

Later that afternoon, both Yuka and Sayuri showed up at the Tendo's front door and were escorted back to the family room by Kasumi. They entered the room to find Akane sitting on the couch, reading over some of the schoolwork she had missed. She looked up at them with a trace of surprise. Yuka answered her unspoken question. "Hi Akane! You said that you would invite us over to explain the clothes and everything later, so we just decided to invite ourselves instead and save you the trouble."

Akane tried to look indignant, but failed when she couldn't suppress a snort of laughter. Deciding that she really didn't want to hide the truth from her two best friends, she said, "Kasumi? Could you ask Ranma to join us? I think he's out in the dojo. And could you please bring some hot and cold water?" Kasumi nodded and walked out, leaving Akane's two friends giving her some very strange looks indeed.

"What in the world is the water for?" Sayuri asked curiously.

"You'll see," Akane told her mysteriously. "But I want you two to promise that you'll keep this secret. I mean, everyone else is bound to find out eventually, but I'd like a little time to ... get accustomed to ... things myself ... before they do."

Yuka regarded her with head tilted to the side. "Ah ... just what are we promising to keep secret?"

Akane smiled grimly. "You'll see, if you promise. But I want you to promise first."

With a build up like that, they _had_ to know the secret, and quickly gave their promises. Shortly after, Ranma entered the room wearing a gi and looking puzzled. Akane patted the couch at her side, and he sat warily. A few seconds later, Kasumi entered the room, put a pitcher and a kettle on the low table, then left again. Akane took a deep breath and began the explanation.

It was pretty much the same story which Ranma had told to Tofu, except that they demonstrated his curse as soon as they reached the part where he and his father fell into the pools. Both girls were understandably very shocked, and watched him warily as the story continued.

When they reached the part where Ranma awoke Akane with a kiss, both Yuka and Sayuri adopted expressions with their lips pressed firmly together, clearly indicating that they were trying not to break into broad grins. Then they reached the part where Akane had been cursed as well, and demonstrated. Both of the other girls fell flat on their backs, mumbling incoherently, as they tried to come to grips with this development.

Eventually the pair sat back up again, staring at the two nearly identical boys sitting on the couch. "Is ... is that really you, Akane?" Yuka asked, very tentatively.

The boy with the ribbons in his hair nodded, and in a rich baritone voice said, "Yes, Yuka, it really is me." He picked up the kettle, poured some hot water over his head, and suddenly Akane was sitting there once more.

"Oh boy, that is _really_ gonna take some getting used to," Sayuri complained. "Will anyone he kisses be cursed like that?"

Both teenagers on the couch scowled, and Akane said, "No, we're sure that won't happen." She giggled suddenly. "If it did, then Nabiki would be seriously unhappy. Before we even knew I was cursed, Nabiki was so excited when I woke up that she kissed Ranma." Akane smirked. "You should have seen her face when it occurred to her that she might have been cursed herself because of that kiss. But she wasn't. We're pretty sure that I'm only cursed because of the magic involved in waking me from the coma, and because his cursed form is my twin." It would have been even more convincing to explain that she had been present in spirit when Ranma was cursed, but she wasn't going to tell anyone that.

Yuka winked and suggested, "Perhaps, just to be sure, you ought to ask for volunteers from our class to kiss him and confirm it." She then hid her face from the black look that Ranma shot her. For that matter, Akane was also glowering at her.

Sayuri decided not to press Akane as to why _she_ was upset at Yuka's suggestion. She cleared her throat, drawing attention away from her friend. "So this is why you weren't wearing the uniform today?"

"Yeah," Akane admitted. "We've explained about the curses to the principal. We never know when we're going to get splashed. I tell you, these curses almost seem to attract water. So we need to wear something that'll be suitable whether we're boy or girl."

"Is there any cure?" Yuka asked plaintively.

"Not that we know of," Ranma answered her. "At least, nothing that's very safe or sure. We could try using one of the other pools at Jusenkyo, but we'd be just as likely to make things worse instead of better."

Sayuri shook her head. "That really sucks." She looked back and forth between them, and a grin lit her face. "So prince charming woke you with a kiss, and the two of you change into each other. It's obvious to me that it's destiny. You two are meant to be together."

Ranma groaned, while Akane weakly protested, "Please don't say that." Her two friends laughed. Ranma growled and told them that if the demonstrations were over, then he was heading back out to the dojo, and before anyone could say anything one way or another, he was gone.

As soon as he left, Sayuri asked, "So what's it like having a boy's body? Does it really hurt as much as they claim when you get hit between the legs?"

Akane shook her head in resignation at her friend's curiosity. "I wouldn't know about that yet, so far I've managed to avoid that sort of accident. Given the way the boys acted when I, uh," she started blushing, "kicked them there myself, I'm not in any hurry to try the experiment." She then gave her friends a quirky grin, unlike any expression they were accustomed to seeing on her face. "The weirdest thing so far is being able to pee standing up."

Both of the other girls looked a little shocked, and Yuka blushed. Then a thoughtful look crossed her face, and she pointed out, "You must change into a guy when you bathe. That means you know exactly what Ranma looks like with his clothes off. Is that what you meant at lunch?"

Akane nodded shyly, and Sayuri piped up, "Oh boy! That means he also gets to see your body whenever _he_ bathes. Man oh man, you two don't have any secrets from each other, do you?"

Akane squirmed in her seat, "It's ... only our bodies. We don't suddenly have each other's memories, or know what the other person is thinking, or anything."

"Doesn't it bother you, though?" Yuka asked seriously.

"Yes!" Akane admitted, with more volume than she intended. "Of course it bothers me! But there's nothing I can do about it. Or that Ranma can do about it."

"You've changed, you know?" Sayuri said consideringly. She blushed as the others stared at her in amazement. "I mean, besides the obvious," she quickly stammered. "Before, the thought that any boy might have seen you in any sense would have made you explode. Now it just 'bothers' you. You even seem to be willing to see things from Ranma's point of view, and acknowledge that he's not at fault."

Akane bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling for inspiration. "He and I ... have been through a lot together, in a short time. We've both got these curses, and we understand how each other feels about them, in a way that no one else really can. It helps that he's not a pervert, and merely a sometimes jerk, not a full time perverted jerk like the other boys."

Yuka looked sly. "Coming from you, that's practically an admission of love. You sure you don't want this engagement?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Akane protested hotly, while her friends laughed. The three continued to talk for some time, the conversation shifting to things which had happened while Akane was in the hospital. Eventually Yuka and Sayuri left, and Ranma returned to help Akane do some more exercises.

In the evening after supper, Akane went out to the dojo and started walking through a slow kata, trying to build her strength up. Ranma wandered out there and watched her, making a suggestion or two from time to time. When she finished, Akane sank down to the floor and looked over at him.

"So, have you given it much thought yet?" she asked him.

Ranma looked confused. "What do you mean? Much thought to what?"

Akane frowned and spoke in serious tones. "Helping me to become a better martial artist, of course. At the hospital, you said you needed time to think about it."

Ranma had been thinking about it, but the idea of putting any girl through the training he had gone through, let alone Akane, bothered him enormously. "Do you really think you need to improve?" he asked weakly, looking for an out. "I mean, I'm here now. If any problems come up, any challengers or whatever, I'll take care of 'em."

Flames started to burn within Akane's eyes. "And why shouldn't I take care of them? This is my home, my dojo! Are you trying to tell me that I'm not good enough to train? Your female form is identical to my body! My cursed form is identical to yours! So don't try to tell me that you're any better than I am for any reason other than the amount of training you've had!"

Ranma was unable to look her in the eye. He suddenly burst out, yelling, "Do you got any idea what it was like? What my pop put me through? It was sheer hell, Akane! There were times I was in constant pain! Having boulders thrown at me! And worse things! Falling out of trees and off cliffs! Standing for hours in freezing rivers! Do you think I want to put you through that?"

Akane looked taken aback for a moment, but then spoke quietly and firmly, "I have the same bodies as you, Ranma. You already know that they can take it. Or is it just that I'm a girl?"

"Yeah, you're a girl!" Ranma half-shouted. "And you're a friend! I don't wanna see you looking at me with eyes full of pain and know that I caused it! I don't want you to hate me like ... like you would," he finished weakly.

Akane tried a different tack. "That's physical pain, which I'm ready to face. How about emotional pain? How about being told that I'm not allowed to reach beyond my current level, because _you_ can't deal with what I'd have to go through? Don't you think that hurts? How would you have liked it if your dad had told _you_ that, a few years ago?"

Ranma looked stunned. Akane pushed some more. "Besides, we both know your dad's an idiot. I bet if you put your mind to it, you could find ways to train me in what you learned, without using methods as dangerous as his."

Ranma was now shuffling his feet, feeling embarrassed. Her words were making sense, but they were grinding against a world view that his father had spent years instilling in him. He took a deep breath. "Uh, look, maybe you're right, okay? I, I dunno. This ain't easy for me. I said I needed time. I still do.

"Tell you what, though. There's some stuff I'm sure I can do." He paused a moment before continuing. "Right now, you need to stick to the basics, until you get your strength back. You know, practice your kata, gradually build up your speed and endurance. Before you think about the complex stuff. If ... if you want, I'll keep an eye on you while you work, and make suggestions if I see something I think you should do differently. Like I was doing earlier."

Akane gave him a long, measuring look, wanting to go over and pound him for not agreeing with her immediately. However, she couldn't help remembering what she had learned of his father during their time together, which allowed her to guess dimly at what was going on behind his eyes. She really wanted to give in to her anger, but ... something held her back. Ranma had made a concession, if only a small one. She wanted, _needed_ to become a better martial artist. Becoming angry with Ranma would ... not help. If she agreed to his suggestion, then later she could push him to do more.

"Okay, Ranma, that'll do for now." Her voice was grim, but Ranma felt relieved to hear it, trying not to think about the future.

* * *

As the days passed Akane recovered her strength, until she was able to walk the full distance to and from school by herself. The other students became accustomed to seeing her in the clothes she wore. There were a few close calls at school, but so far no one else had guessed their secret. The salve Doctor Tofu had given her was working beautifully. The wound was healing swiftly, with almost no scarring.

Akane was rapidly improving at her kata as well, especially with Ranma's help, and each day she pressed him to do a little more. The day after their argument, she talked him into placing his hands on her arms and legs to help position them exactly as he thought they should be. The day after that she had convinced him to stand still in the dojo as a sort of "living" training dummy, as she tapped him with controlled blows. However, he steadfastly refused anything which would involve striking or blocking her. The situation was proving a severe test of Akane's control over her temper.

On Friday night at dinner, Nabiki gathered everyone's attention to deliver some unwelcome news. Looking thoroughly disgusted by the words she was forced to say, she informed them, "Tatewaki Kuno's lawyers have managed to get him released."

"What!" said Akane. "How? I thought he was going to jail!"

"Money and influence mostly," her sister told her, "together with the fact that you got better. The word is, they used the argument that you must not have been as seriously injured as was initially claimed. They said because of that, Kuno doesn't deserve a punishment so much in excess of what the other boys received. Apparently they managed to convince a judge, and rammed through a deal to get him out."

"So what _will_ be done to my daughter's attacker?" Soun asked grimly. Nabiki forbore to point out that he might have tried being as upset about the attacks before Akane was injured. After all, she herself bore considerably more guilt on that score than did her father.

So Nabiki swallowed the thought and simply reported the facts. "According to my source, you should be getting the details on Monday, but ... he'll be on probation like all of the other boys. He won't be permitted to return to Furinkan, or to set foot on the school grounds. He has to transfer to another high school. He's also not permitted to speak to Akane or even come within a hundred meters of her."

Akane snorted, then commented bitterly, "Yeah, right. Anyone want to take any bets on how likely he is to leave me alone?"

"Not me," Nabiki answered her grimly. "Just make sure you take him out hard if he does try anything, and we'll see what we can do about getting him locked up for violating the terms of his probation. I wouldn't hold out too much hope for that either, though."

* * *

On Saturday afternoon, they had a session in the dojo in which Akane had talked Ranma into running through the complementary kata to her own, though without any forceful contact. When they finished, Akane was pleased with how she had done, even though she was sweating hard and Ranma was still as fresh as when they'd started. She caught his attention, then pointed to her temple.

"Ranma, I was checking this in the mirror this morning after I put the salve on, and it looks to me like it's barely noticeable any more. What do you think?"

Ranma squinted as he examined what he could see. "Yeah, you're right. You don't even seem to have much of a scar. That salve must be pretty potent stuff. What _is_ there is pretty well hidden by your hair."

Akane nodded, and a light came into her eyes. "Okay, after we wash up, we're going to see Kasumi. We'll have her cut our hair to match. Oh, be sure to stay female after you wash so we can take the dragon's whisker off safely."

"You sure about this?"

"Uh huh, positive!" Akane's smile was downright mischievous.

After Ranma finished with his bath, he changed back into a girl. At his signal, Akane came in, untied the dragon's whisker, and unbraided the pigtail. She retied it in a loose ponytail, with the dragon's whisker near the bottom. Then they went looking for the oldest sister.

Not unexpectedly, they found Kasumi in the kitchen. "Oneechan?" Akane called as they entered the room. "Ranma's decided to change the way he wears his hair. Could you help to fix it up?"

"Certainly," came the cheerful response. "Let me see. Er, Ranma-kun, why are you a girl instead of a boy?"

"Oh, uh ... didn't notice," stammered Ranma. "It's, uh, not like it matters. I have the same hairstyle either way."

Kasumi shrugged. She untied his hair once more, gathered it back up a little more skillfully than Akane had done, and retied it. She then took the scissors Akane handed her, and trimmed his hair to provide a point to the tail. She also trimmed the rest of his hair a little more tidily while she was at it. Akane nodded appreciatively when her older sister was finished.

Akane then pulled up a chair beside Ranma's and sat in it. "Now, Kasumi, would you please cut my hair to match Ranma's?"

"What?" Kasumi was more than a little startled. Despite how she and everyone else could see what a good match the young couple made, Akane and Ranma had been resisting the engagement from the beginning. Now Akane seemed to be asking for something which would make them appear to be even closer.

"Please, Kasumi?" Akane asked again.

"Are you sure, Akane?" Kasumi sounded bewildered. "I mean, with your curses, if we do that ... it could get rather confusing. It would be hard to know which of you is which."

"Yes, I'm sure." There was a sharp edge to Akane's voice as she responded. "Since everyone seems to want us to get together anyway, I don't care if none of you can tell us apart."

"Oh my," Kasumi gave her trademark response, as she envisioned moments of confusion in the future. All the same she considered the task before her. Their bangs were already nearly the same. She shortened Akane's hair along the sides to match Ranma's, then cut it in the back to a little longer than the necessary length. She tied the ponytail at top and bottom as Ranma's was tied, then shaped the bottom to match Ranma's. Finally it was done.

Kasumi stepped in front to check the result. She shook her head in worry. "You look identical," she moaned. "Except for that small scar on your head ... and _that's_ barely visible!" The impact was made all the greater by the fact that Akane had selected her clothing to match Ranma's.

"Now let's test how we look the other way," Akane announced. She stood and poured herself a glass of cold water, then dumped it over her head, becoming male. She had Ranma do the same with hot water. Beckoning him to stand beside her, she asked Kasumi, "How do we look?"

"Oh my!" There was real feeling in the two words. Kasumi blinked several times. The two boys might as well have been twins. She was entirely unable to distinguish between them except, again, for the faint scar. The older girl shook her head in concern. "It's truly unbelievable, Akane. This could cause a great deal of confusion. Are you one hundred percent certain you wish to do this?"

"Oh yes, one hundred percent," Akane confirmed gleefully.

That night at dinner, two Ranma's sat down at the table. Akane had used some makeup to hide the scar. Nabiki's, Soun's and Genma's jaws all dropped at the sight. As Kasumi served the food, Akane made an attempt to eat as fast and furiously as Ranma, in order to enhance the image.

Genma growled. "What's the meaning of this boy?" Then he shifted his glare to the other one. "Er, boy?" Then he looked back to the first again. "Which one are you, anyway?" Matching grins appeared on both faces.

"Can't you tell who your own son is, pop?" Akane said.

"Hah, I knew it was you all along," he said while facing the one who just spoke. "You can't fool me, you know."

"Funny thing to claim considering she just did," Ranma said with a smirk.

Genma's head snapped back. "Boy, is that really you?"

Akane laughed. "I thought you could tell, pop."

Genma gave another growl, then shot out both arms, launching a punch at each face. Both of them started to duck, but Ranma also blocked the punch heading for Akane. "Hey, old man, watch it! You almost hit her!"

His father sneered. "Hmmph. At least now we know which one of you is which." The meal continued uncomfortably, but without further incident.

In the dojo that evening, Ranma offered to help Akane to improve her speed and ability to dodge. His thoughts did not go beyond trying to prevent a repetition of what had happened at dinner, but Akane smiled inwardly, reasonably pleased with the outcome regardless.

* * *

Monday morning, as Nabiki, Akane and Ranma neared school, a figure stepped out of a side street just in front of them. He was carrying a bokken in one hand and holding a rose near his nose with the other. He seemed to pose in order to give them the best possible view of his profile.

"So my fierce tigress," he declaimed, "I was informed that you had recovered. Has your heart now recognized that we two are destined for one another? Ah, how my heart did cry in agony as I held your bleeding head 'gainst my breast that day! Come my love! Let us be away and plan our future together!"

Ranma turned to Akane. In a voice dripping with contempt, he said, "This just has to be Kuno, right?"

Akane smirked and nodded. Then she turned and glared at the other boy. "Kuno, aren't you risking arrest for talking to me like this?"

"T'is but a petty concern, fair one," he replied airily. He turned and pointed his bokken directly at Ranma. "But you! You are being quite familiar with Akane! Who are you? Ah, but it is the custom to give one's _own_ name first! Fine then! Mine shall I give!"

Kuno drew himself up straighter. "My name is Tatewaki Kuno. Undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. My peers call me the ... Blue Thunder!" He looked around curiously. The weather was not cooperating for some reason.

"Never heard that name before," Nabiki remarked snidely. "Who did you say calls you that?"

Ranma introduced himself, giving no attention to Nabiki for the moment. "My name is Ranma Saotome, and I'm the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

Before he could add anything else, Nabiki cut in with, "and he's Akane's fiancé."

Ranma barely managed to jump over the bokken as it swung across horizontally, apparently in an attempt to cut him in half at the waist. In a blazing fury, Kuno ground out, "Never! I shall never accept the engagement of a cur such as yourself to the fair Akane Tendo! Never!" He swung down in an overhand blow, which cut a large groove in the wall Ranma had been standing by, but missed the boy who had jumped out of the way.

Before Kuno could swing again, Ranma was in his face, so fast that the other three pairs of eyes all blinked in astonishment. "Now listen here! Akane and I aren't engaged! That's just some idea of our families!"

"So you would dare to cast aside the beauteous Akane? Thou art no man!" Kuno took a step backward and swung again, but connected only with air. Suddenly Ranma dropped on him from above, striking Kuno in the forehead as he tried to raise his bokken in time to block. As Ranma's foot touched the ground, he delivered kicks with the other foot to the taller boy's chin, chest and solar plexus. The kendoist dropped like a felled tree.

"Wow, you're fast Saotome," Nabiki commented, surprised and impressed by the display of physical prowess. She caught herself calculating odds on his next fight with Kuno, and gave a massive shudder. ‹No!› she whimpered mentally. ‹I promised myself! Never again!› She took a deep breath, regaining her poise.

Akane nodded matter-of-fact agreement concerning Ranma's speed before asking, "What was that attack to his forehead?"

Nabiki stepped forward and looked down at Kuno's face, then snickered. She turned back to Akane and said, "He's got a bruise here that's supposed to spell 'buffoon'. Only Ranma didn't get it quite right." Akane grinned and stepped over to see for herself, while Ranma looked nonplused that his little practical joke hadn't come off exactly right.

"Don't you think we'd better get on to school?" Ranma suggested, hoping to avoid a spelling lesson.

"Sure." Akane turned to him, then frowned and traced a finger along his neck. "You've got a bruise here. Did Kuno manage to hit you after all?"

Ranma touched his neck gently himself. "No, he never touched me. It must have been from the air pressure of the blow. You know, that's not too bad."

Akane shook her head. "You don't have to compliment him. Come on, or we're going to be late." The three of them ran off, leaving Kuno to wake up on his own a short time later.

* * *

The school day passed without serious incident, except that Ranma had to see one of the teachers after the last class to explain his failure to do an assignment properly. Nabiki was also staying late that day, to do some research in the school library for an upcoming report. Akane started home by herself.

As she was walking along the sidewalk, not paying very much attention to her surroundings, Akane suddenly yelped as water cascaded across her body. She turned to see the old woman with whom she and Ranma were becoming much too familiar, holding a ladle and giving her a funny look. Akane sighed and continued on. She patted her chest to confirm that she was once again male.

A few minutes later, an all too familiar bokken-wielding jackass stepped out in front of her. "Hold, Saotome! You may have overcome me this morning by sorcery, but I shall defeat you now! And when I have won, my tigress shall be free to admit her love for me!" He swung and Akane jumped backward.

"Hang on, Kuno, you baka! It's ... oh yeah." Akane suddenly remembered whose face she was currently wearing. She blocked his next strike and landed a solid kick in his gut, but he was immediately back on her, swinging again. As she wove around his strikes looking for an opening, it began to dawn on Akane that Kuno was fighting with more skill than he had ever shown in their morning bouts. She slowly began to grow worried, the more so as she had not yet fully recovered her strength or agility.

A strike tore through the side of her shirt and the sports bra underneath, leaving a bruise on her skin. Akane spun away, and tried to turn the spin into a kick, but the bokken blocked her kick painfully. She almost fell when her foot came back down, it hurt so much to stand on that leg. With a good deal of her maneuverability diminished, Akane raised her fists for a desperate defense.

"Hmmf," Kuno grunted. "You are a less worthy opponent than I thought this morning."

A sudden blur of a dark-haired girl flew past Akane and swept Kuno's legs out from under him. Stiff fingers jabbed into the boy's solar plexus, and the edge of a hand cracked against his temple. Akane saw herself standing up from the now unconscious Kuno, and realized that Ranma had arrived in the nick of time. She started trembling in delayed reaction.

Ranma looked her up and down, assessing the two obvious injuries. "Come on Akane, let's get you home. The leg at least could use some ointment and massage. It's probably hard for you to put weight on it at the moment, right? Go ahead and lean on me if it helps."

Akane felt hot shame pouring through her that she had needed his help, and worse that the help had come when he was wearing her body. She almost lashed out at him, but managed to fight her emotions down. She said nothing through her gritted teeth, but did reach out a hand to place on Ranma's shoulder and limped home with his aid.

Later in the dojo, after Ranma had worked on Akane's leg and she had worked through a couple of kata to test it, she turned to Ranma and asked, "Ranma, do you know why Kuno attacked me this afternoon?"

"'Cause the guy's a certifiable lunatic?" Ranma suggested.

Akane gave a half smile. "Well, yes, but more importantly it was because he thought that I was you. He wanted revenge for what you did to him this morning, and for some reason he thought that defeating 'you' would free 'Akane' for him."

Ranma scowled. "Man, I knew it was a bad idea to make us look so much alike."

Akane walked over to Ranma, grabbed his chin gently, and made him look directly at her. She gave a single shake of her head from side to side. "No, Ranma. With Kuno it wouldn't have mattered. He seems to exist in some little world inside his own head. Even without the matching clothes and hairstyles, I'm sure he still would have thought that I was you, and still would have attacked just as fiercely."

Ranma gritted his teeth, pulling back from her hand. "Yeah, well, I guess I'm just gonna have to keep a sharper eye out then. Can't have him hurting you 'cause he thinks you're me, after all."

Akane gave an exasperated huff. "You're planning to stick that close to me at all times? When I'm window shopping downtown? When I'm going over to Yuka's or Sayuri's or someone else's? When I'm walking somewhere with them? Do you honestly think I'll let you stick that close to me, all day, every day?"

Ranma turned his head aside and took a couple of steps away, not looking at her.

Akane went on, "What about the next person who holds a grudge against you? What if someone else from your checkered past shows up, and I happen to be in my cursed form and they attack before asking questions? If they're going to attack me thinking that I'm you, then shouldn't I be able to defend myself as if I'm you? Or at least something close to it?"

Ranma still wasn't looking at her. His voice was a little desperate. "It's my _duty_ to defend you."

"Why?" Akane asked. "Because you're supposed to be my fiancé? You don't accept that. Because you're a martial artist? Damn it, I'm a martial artist too! Don't I have the right to defend myself? How can I call myself a martial artist if I have to have someone fight my fights for me? Would you be able to respect a martial artist who has to have someone do that? A male martial artist?"

Ranma spun back toward her, face twisted in pain. "Damn it, I don't wanna hurt you!"

Akane's face softened. She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. His face was still twisted in a tight grimace, but was looking down rather than at her. "Ranma, we've discussed this. You say you don't want to hurt me. I can understand that. But would you rather see me lying in the hospital in a coma again? Or even dead? If you had been a few seconds later today, that might have happened. I know you wouldn't prefer that."

Ranma looked up at her again, anguish clear in his eyes. "Akane, I've already told you some things about the price I've paid, still pay, to get as good as I am. Can you really ask me to be the one to make you pay the same price?"

"Yes Ranma, I can," she told him sincerely. "I'm a martial artist, and I understand the price. I'm ready to face the pain, the bruises, the risks. My two bodies are identical to your two bodies, and you already know that those bodies can handle this. As my friend, I am asking you to help me. ..."

She took a breath and added, "Because the alternative is even worse."

Ranma looked down again, and a deep shudder passed through his body. When he looked up again, there were tears on his face. He wiped them away quickly, trying to pretend they were never there. His voice sounded hollow as he told her, "Okay, Tendo-san, you win." He gave her a smile which didn't look particularly happy. "I'll teach you everything I can, and I'll do what I can to help you through the rough patches. I still don't think you fully understand what you're letting yourself in for, but somehow we'll see it through together."

Feeling overwhelmed with happiness at his answer and not really thinking about what she was doing, Akane stepped forward and pulled Ranma into a hug. She wanted to reassure him that this was what she wanted, and to try to let him feel how happy his agreement had made her. She blushed slightly as she realized that it felt pretty good to hold him like this, but for once decided to ignore her embarrassment and held on.

Ranma slowly relaxed into her embrace, putting his arms around her as well. He allowed himself to take comfort from the feeling of reassurance he was getting from Akane. He had given his word now, and he would live up to that word. Ranma found himself filled with an odd mixture of desire both to protect her from all harm, and to help her achieve her wish. He would get her to the point where she could take on all threats by herself, while silently promising that if he had anything to say about it, she would never face anything of the sort by herself.

* * *

Late that night, Ranma sat up on the roof watching the stars, at least those bright enough to show themselves through the city's glow. This sky didn't hold a candle to the starry nights he had seen while growing up and camped far from civilization, but he was content nonetheless. He was more than happy with the trade he had made for the sight of the stars. He now lived in a nice house with a great dojo, good food, and a good friend as well.

A smile lifted his lips as he thought about Akane, who was probably asleep in her bed at this moment, pretty much right underneath where he was sitting. There was no doubt in his mind that she had quickly become the best friend he had ever had, although he ruefully acknowledged that he had been permitted damned few of those in his life. He shook his head in wonder, remembering the sheer joy she had radiated while hugging him earlier, all because he had agreed to put her through hell. Despite everything his pop had ever said about girls, the only possible explanation was that she truly loved the art as much as he did.

‹Akane.› He spoke her name silently in his mind. They had been together in one body for a time. They were still linked somehow by their strangely mirrored curses. Now he knew they shared a love of the art. He wondered what the future had in store for them.

Whatever the future might bring, he thought to himself, one truth held firm; he had found a friend. "A real friend," he whispered, and his eyes widened as the heavens responded to his words with the streak of a shooting star, its trail glowing for several seconds. He thought about friendship, the warmth of her body as she had hugged him, the scent of her hair. Gradually it dawned on him that maybe, just maybe, his old man hadn't done such a stupid thing to bring him here after all.

And in the room below him, another pair of eyes watched the fading glow left by the meteor. Its light had sprung into existence just as she was reflecting on the young man who had somehow, against all odds, become her friend. Her hand reached out and tugged the curtain closed. With one last smile toward the faint sound from the roof overhead, Akane climbed into bed and gave herself over to her dreams.

** THE END **

* * *

**Author's note:**

This ends _Togetherness_, but the story continues in the sequel, tentatively titled _Side by Side_. The sequel will carry on into the history of the manga, with an open-ended structure for which I plan to post chapters irregularly and probably infrequently. I greatly fear that it will be a few months, at least, before the first chapter of the sequel is posted.

I had originally promised myself that I would hold off on the final edit and posting of this chapter until after I finished my taxes. However, I wasn't going to work on those on a Friday night anyway, and decided instead to make one last huge push and get this chapter out. So here you are, and I hope you enjoyed the story.


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